By Your Side
by Blu3Danny
Summary: A year after the infamous "Night Howler" case, the finest of Zootopia's finest, Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps, have proven themselves to be a powerful duo, but what happens when old feelings resurface in a new way? How could one perfect date end up in tears? Will Judy discover what Chief Bogo's secret is?
1. Slow Day at Work

**DISCLAIMER:** The rights to Zootopia and its characters belong Disney, and any other company associated with the movie. This was not made for profit, simply out of sheer love and joy I have for this wonderful movie and its insanely lovable characters.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTES:** This story takes place a year after the events of the movie. To those of you who want to avoid spoilers, I do not recommend you read this story before watching the movie (then again, I don't know who would read this who hasn't seen the movie), as there will be plenty of references to the events of the movie. You have been warned.

\- I should also mention that my plan for this fanfic is to update it with a new chapter once a month. Some chapters may come sooner or later than planned, it depends, but I'm shooting for at least one month in between them

 **RATING WARNING:** **_M_**. Though I will try to stick as close to the movie in terms of spirit as I can, there will be a couple of instances of foul language (I'll try to keep it as minimal as I can), mild to explicit sexual themes, and a slight bit of violence. I will give each chapter a respective warning that fits with the contents, but be warned that if you plan to stick through with it, you will encounter more adult themes down the line.

This chapter is purely rated _**K+**_. Absolutely nothing you have to worry about here. But if you don't have a problem with the rating, then please sit back and I hope you enjoy~

* * *

 ** _[CHAPTER 1: SLOW DAY AT WORK]_**

A year has passed since the devastating "Night Howler Case" had nearly torn the gleaming, prosperous Zootopia, apart. Thanks to the stellar work by Zootopia's finest, the animals have remained at peace since. Predator and prey were at each other's throats, and things might have gone worse if it wasn't thanks to the harmonious efforts of star ZPD officer, Judy Hopps and, the ZPD's newest recruit and first fox officer, Nicholas Wilde.

Though still considered the newbie of the precinct, Nick participated in a good handful of tough cases alongside his resourceful partner Judy. They've dealt with illegal street races, stopped shady black market trades, and even put a stop to an attempted kidnapping. Nick has gone above and beyond in proving his worth as an asset to the force, though he's quick to say that he never would have solved any of these on his own, and Judy is the reason why he's a police officer in the first place.

Of course, this has led to rumor floating around the station that the two tiny mammals might be an "item". This hasn't gone unnoticed by either of them, though they normally just shrug the notion off like it's nothing. "Normally" being the keyword.

It seems that for the past few weeks or so, nothing nearly as wild or dangerous as what Precinct 1 normally deals with. Usually it's just some rambunctious teenager out to cause mischief or petty vandalism; nothing a police alarm and a quick call to their parents can't fix. While the officers can at least be pretty thankful that the streets of Zootopia haven't been as swamped with crime as it normally is, it's also made the atmosphere at the station slow-paced and dull. It's just not the same without Bogo barking orders, or Clawhauser's constant overly-chipper greetings- or near-incomprehensible ramblings about his favorite pop idols- the other officers haven't even cracked as many jokes at each other as they usually do. While relatively peaceful, not everybody in the precinct was at ease.

The normally wily, wise-cracking, suave, red fox himself, Nick Wilde, was leaning back on his swivel chair, feet propped up on top of his desk, hands behind his head, and staring at the ceiling with a blank expression. At this time Nick would be coming up with ways to get under Bogo's skin by taunting him about how he knew about his secret affinity to Gazelle's music, but he just didn't have the spirit for it. It's been hard for the vulpine to explain to himself just why he's not in the mood to cause mischief; the quiet atmosphere at the station has given time for Nick to clear his mind off work and think about the other aspects in his life.

Nick is absolutely happy with his new position, there's no denying that being a police officer is one of the best things that have ever happened in his life. Nick's mom is more than happy with his new position, and with his new steady income, it's also made it easier for him to visit her more often. Nick and Finnick no longer work together, but the two foxes are still in good terms with each other. Finnick's own life of crime has slowed down, though for different reasons that Nick is quick to tease him about- dating. The two taking shots at each other like that isn't going away, and they wouldn't want it any other way. Finally, there's Judy. Not only could Nick not have asked for a better partner, but he has never bonded with anyone like he has with her.

Even outside of work, Nick loves spending time with Judy more than anyone else. Nick has dropped by Judy's apartment several times (and also makes fun of her neighbors whenever he cans), he's shown Judy all over Zootopia- from the markets of Tundratown, to the glamorous streets of Sahara Square, to even cozy little cafes in the Rainforest District- and they've both even met each other's families. Things couldn't be going any better between them, so Nick couldn't understand why he's been more apprehensive to approach her.

The fox broke out of his pensive state, pulled his feet back from the desk, and jumped out of his seat to stand up, stretching out his arms and letting out a soft yawn. Nick turned on his heel and stepped out of his cubicle; he thought that seeing what the other officers were up to would break him away from his thoughts. He shuffled around the station, scanning for whatever would catch his attention. Officers Fangmire and Delgato were chatting by the watercooler. Nothing important, just talk about a baseball game. Nick then saw Officer McHorn glaring at Clawhauser from using the donuts from the break room to build a tower with them, which inevitably collapsed. The rhino crossed his arms and exhaled through his nose as Clawhauser responded to him with a small grin and an embarrassed "oops". This got a small snicker out of Nick, who shook his head in amusement.

"Don't ever change, big guy." Nick uttered under his breath as he continued moving about the station. His gaze turned to the upstairs floor and saw the door to the chief's office was halfway open, "Wonder what Captain Buffalo Butt is up to?"

Nick walked by Bogo's office, though he only saw the big guy was wearing his glasses and was quietly writing on some papers. Nothing out of the ordinary except that Bogo seemed to be quite happy. Bogo didn't notice Nick's presence, so the fox simply shrugged his shoulders and walked down the stairs.

There was one more animal he wanted to see- Judy. This wouldn't be an issue for him in the slightest, but this time he was feeling nervous, and he still didn't understand why. He became more hesitant as he approached her cubicle, but he shook his head and went to see his partner. Nick felt disappointed as he peered inside the cubicle because Judy wasn't even in there. The fox noticed a lot of scattered papers littered on top her desk, and the area itself had a strong scent of coffee. Nick assumed that Judy probably headed out to get more coffee while he was walking around the station.

The red fox made his way back to his own cubicle, sitting back on his chair and propping his feet back on top of the wooden desk. Nick placed his hands behind his head, and released a soft sigh. He thought taking a nap would help ease his nerves and clear his head. His eyelids slowly closed shut and breathed at a slow pace as he drifted off to sleep.

"NICK!" a sudden shout rang in the fox's sensitive ears.

The fox shouts in surprise from the sudden yell, causing him to push his chair away from under him and fall on the ground, making the loose pens, mug of coffee, and computer rattle from the hard impact.

"Oh goodness." The concerned voice from a certain small animal said, "Are you okay?!"

"Mmmrrph…" Nick grumbled in pain as he laid flat on the ground. He turned his head to the side, and opened his eyes seeing a pair of big grey rabbit feet. His head turned back to center itself as his eyes darted from the feet, to the frame and, finally, the face of the one and only bunny partner of his, "H-hey, Carrots. Fancy meeting you here." He greeted in a low hushed tone that while he felt a combination of embarrassment and pain.

"Sorry for scaring you, Nick." Judy apologized as she knelt down to help her partner get back to his feet. As soon as Nick regained his balance he dusted off his sleeves and adjusted his tie.

"Scaring me? No, not at all." Nick lied and tried to hide his embarrassment with his trademark sly smile and usual suave, cool voice "I was just testing you to see how quickly you would help a fellow officer while he's down."

Judy narrowed her eyes and leaned against the open frame of the cubicle, "Uh-huh. Alright, if you say so." The rabbit said in a flat tone, though quickly perked up again, "but listen, I need to tell you something. I think I'm on the verge of discovering something really _big!_ "

"Big?" the fox asked, scratching the back of his head, "what are you talking about?"

"I'm sure you've noticed that things have gotten pretty quiet around here." Judy began to explain, "a little _too_ quiet."

"Well yeah, nothing interesting's been goin' on around here." Nick scoffed while crossing his arms across his chest.

"Sure, that's a definite part of it, but have you noticed how Bogo has been acting lately?"

"You mean like a reasonable animal?" Nick remarked jokingly, while Judy tilted her head and groaned under breath, "Okay, okay, tell me what's the deal with Master Top-Heavy."

Judy cleared her throat and looked at the papers in her right hand, "Well, Bogo has been acting considerably nicer lately, although it's not simply because of less cases to deal with, as of lat. In fact, I have some notes and records in here that'll show that he's been acting progressively nicer over the course of the past two months."

"And this is a problem, how?" Nick asked as he extended his right hand out.

"Don't you find it just the slightest bit suspicious?" Judy asked in response, "whether or not you think it's a good change, wouldn't you find it a little strange that someone you, especially if you knew them for a long time, is acting differently all of a sudden?"

Nick was taken back by the question. He was starting to worry that Judy may be picking up on his own odd behavior.

"Well, I guess you have a point there." Nick said, sounding less enthusiastic than he was before, "Judy? Is it just Bogo that's acting like this?" he asked.

"Well, maybe." Judy replied. She noticed that Nick's tone changed, "why do you ask?"

"Just curious." The fox replied hesitantly and flashed a sheepish smile.

"Well the only other animal that I'm seeing acting a bit suspicious is you, Nick." Judy furrowed her brow in concern, "Is something wrong, Nick? Is there something you're not telling me that I should be-?"

"No, no! I'm fine!" the fox quickly replied, "I'm feeling completely and totally fine. I've just been, you know" he paused, "I've had a lot of time to myself to think about other things, but it's nothing to worry about."

Judy stares at her partner for a few seconds then looks back down at her papers. "If you say so." The rabbit's voice trailed off as she turned around to leave Nick's cubicle. Once Judy walked out Nick couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for not telling the truth, though he himself still didn't know what was wrong with him. The fox rolled his chair back under him and sat on the seat. He rested his elbow on top of the desk and leaned his head on his palm, releasing a soft remorseful sigh.

"Hey, Nick?" Judy's voice called from away the office.

The sound of her voice made Nick's ears perk up. He stood up from his chair and looked around the open frame of the cubicle to see his partner looking back at him, "Yes, Judy?"

"If there's anything wrong you can always tell me." Judy said in a welcoming tone, "We're partners, for one, but you're also my best friend. If there's anything wrong, I want to be there to help; Lord knows you've done more than enough to help me."

Feeling some comfort in her words, Nick returned the smile and even chuckled at the bunny's remark, "Thanks, Carrots. I know I can always count on you."

Judy turned around and walked back to her cubicle. Nick's smile slowly disappeared as the troubling feeling came back to him, though stronger than before because he finally knew what it was.


	2. Fox to Fox Talk

**DISCLAIMER:** The rights to Zootopia and its characters belong Disney, and any other company associated with the movie. This was not made for profit, simply out of sheer love and joy I have for this wonderful movie and its insanely lovable characters.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Thank you very much for those of you who read the first chapter and are enjoying where the story is going, so far! I've got more on the way, so please be patient with me, and I hope you're excited for what's coming up next!

 **RATING WARNING:** Starting with this chapter on, the story is moving up to a **T** rating. Oh yeah, the ratings are jumping already. This one has a touch of more foul language and touches on a few suggestive themes, courtesy of everyone's favorite big-mouthed fennec fox.

If you're not bothered by these, however, then I hope you enjoy~

* * *

 ** _[CHAPTER 2: FOX TO FOX TALK]_**

The rest of the day passed, and it was finally time for the officers to leave for the night. Nick and Judy walked out of the police station together, Nick feeling relieved both from Judy's words, as well as for the fact that Bogo granted them the day off tomorrow- something which Judy suggested, seeing as Nick wasn't all there. Surprisingly, he agreed to it and let the two small mammals have the Friday to themselves.

"Are you really sure there's nothing wrong?" Judy asked, concerned, though he simply scratched the back of his head and shrugged.

"Eh, it's nothing bad." Nick paused, as he lowered his hands, "it's just something I've had in my mind lately." The fox responded, sounding uncertain, then waved his hand in dismissal "but, it's really nothing you should be worried about."

Judy was still not convinced, but decided to let go of the question as she had other things in mind that were bugging her as well- which Nick was quick to catch up on.

"You have to admit that we should be concerned with Chief Buffalo Butt." Nick mused as a way to divert his partner's attention, "You were right- it's not like him to just give us a day off like this. Maybe he's feeling sick and doesn't want to tell us.

Nick then snapped his fingers as her turned his face to face Judy, "OR his mind is being controlled by aliens." He finished his sentence with his trademark smug smile.

Judy glanced back at the fox, with narrowed eyes and an amused smile on her face, "You've been seeing too many movies, lately." She let out a light bemused chuckle as she finished her statement.

"Do you have any evidence to prove otherwise?" Nick asked with a serious expression (or at least as serious as Nick could be), and with his arms crossed across his chest, "Didn't think so, Carrots. Besides, we're cops, not alien hunters. So, in the advent chance that we have to face our new alien overlords, I will be more than happy to give up my allegiance to our primitive animal society."

Judy rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Now _that_ sounds more like the Nick I know."

"What, you think I'm joking? You clearly don't understand the gravity of the matter at hand, Scully." Nick replied in his usual cool and collected tone, earning him a punch on the shoulder from his rabbit partner, which made him exclaim an amused "Hey!" before turning his attention back to Judy.

"Alright, Mulder, now that I bailed you out of your oh-so-stressful job," Judy stated in a matter-of-fact tone, playing along to Nick's seriousness, which amused him, "I want to know, just what are you going to do tomorrow?"

"Well" Nick brought his right hand to his jaw and his left to his hip, and tapped his chin with his index finger, clearly feigning being puzzled by Judy's question, "do I have plans for tomorrow? Oh, you bet I do." The fox replied confidently, while Judy shook her head.

"And they are?" Judy's voice trailed as she waited for her partner's answer.

"Okay, maybe I don't. So what? Nothing wrong with just spending a day doing nothing."

Judy shrugged, "Fair enough. Although, since you brought it to my attention, I will probably see just what is up with Bogo. His friendlier disposition still weirds me out."

"As a fellow officer and co-worker, but more importantly, as your friend, I have only one thing to request from you: please don't ruin this for me." Nick said, clasping his hands together, tilting his head to one side and frowning like a scolded puppy.

"Oh, Nick." Judy replied in a softer sympathetic tone of voice, as she leaned forward, lowered her ears and wrapped her hands around his, "I don't make any promises. You're not getting out of work that easily, Slick."

Nick released his hands and turned his expression and tone back to their usual cool selves, "It was worth a shot." At that moment, he stopped walking and snapped his fingers, "Wait, I know- I'll go see Finn!" he exclaimed in excitement, "It's been a while since we've hung out together."

"That wasn't about causing trouble, at least." Judy remarked, while Nick scoffed.

"I take offense to that statement- we moved on from the Pawpsicles long ago." He paused, "that you know of, at least." He said quickly while Judy shot him an incredulous glance and smirk, "No, no, it's just something for us foxes, you know."

"Nick, I'm kidding- you two go have your fun! I'm just saying, if anything happens~" her tone trailed into playful sing-song, while Nick scoffed again.

"And here I thought you learned- how shameful."

"Alright, fine. I get the message, mom. I promise I will also floss my teeth after every meal, and look both ways before crossing the street." Nick replied dryly, then shared at smiled with his partner.

"Dumb fox." Judy stated.

"Clever bunny." Nick replied, raised his right hand to his forehead, and giving Judy a dismissive salute before turning on his heel and walking away.

As Judy spun on her heel and turned to walk away the other way, she noticed a familiar figure quickly darting away from the corner of the block- a certain chubby cheetah whom seemed to have been looking around the area, then… left. Judy blinked and shook her head from the sudden confusion, "Clawhauser?" she asked to herself, as she stood puzzled as to what he was doing or where he went.

About an hour later, in a small apartment building located in the outskirts of Sahara Square, Nick shuffles his feet out of the sand and knocks on the door of one of the apartments. From inside the apartment, the sounds locks tumbling out of position can be heard along with some angry muttering, and the sound of a small chain rattling as the door opens inside the apartment, but stays in place thanks to the security chain. Nick looks down and smiles as he sees his former partner in crime, Finnick.

"Wilde?!" the fennec asked in surprise, "Wha'chu want? I'm very busy, and don't need you casuin' trouble 'round here."

"Relax, I came alone." Nick replied, calm as ever, "now, it's probably not a good time, but… I really need your help."

"You owe someone?" Finnick asked, darting his eyes at the edges of the door.

Nick shook his head and waved his hand in dismissal, "No." he then reeled back as Finnick shut the door. Soon, he heard the sound of the security chain rattling, and the door opened again, this time now allowing Nick to step inside.

"Get in- and make it quick!" the fennec exclaimed angrily.

As Nick shut the door behind him, he noticed Finnick's cluttered apartment. The apartment itself was basically a small box- it was a little over 20 feet long, and 17 feet wide, with the ceiling being about 10 feet off the ground. The walls and ceiling were colored a very pale, creamy yellow- though the walls themselves were almost wallpapered by countless cracks stretching across the cement. The hardwood floor was covered in what seemed to be a mix of dust and sand, though it was also covered by several empty cardboard boxes, and chairs that were pushed over to the far end of the apartment, where an old, stained couch was tucked at one of the corners. The kitchen was separated by a wall that only went up to four feet, and it had a fridge, a gas oven, and a sink. The only other door in the apartment led to the bathroom, and that door was barricaded by a couple of potted plants. Finnick flicked a light switch and turned on the two lights on the ceiling, as well as the ceiling fans.

"You moving out or something?" Nick asked, as he looked around the apartment.

"No, not exactly." The fennec replied, "Remodeling- all of this junk was brought here courtesy of my girl, and she really wants to see this place look different. I got my hands tied in, well, business as usual, and just now got the time to get around to fixing the place up; so whatever you're here for, get to it- I'm NOT in the mood for a long talk!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Nick replied, sounding mildly annoyed.

"So if it ain't money, did ya get in trouble with someone ya shouldn't?"

"No. It's not that kind of problem."

"Then, what?!" Finn demanded as he headed towards the kitchen, "I don't have-"

"Look, it's more of a" Nick paused as he thought about the right words to respond with to his former partner.

"Personal problem." Nick stated firmly.

Finnick groaned and dragged his right hand across his face, and groaned under his breath, "Oh, sweet Lord in heaven, Wilde, do I look like a therapist to you?" he asked as he looked back at the taller fox.

"Look, I know this isn't the kind of thing you like to hear, but you're the only animal I know who can help!"

"Why don't you ask that bunny partner of your for help?" Finnick asked as he turned away from Nick and looked through one of the open boxes.

"Because, it's _about_ Judy!" Nick exclaimed.

Finnick was caught off-guard by Nick's words, then looked back at the orange-furred fox, who had a timid look on his face. The fennec motioned his hand in a small circle, gesturing for Nick to continue.

"I'm listenin'."

Nick took a deep breath and exhaled, looking up at Finn as he began to explain his dilemma.

"So, the thing is that I have been feeling weird, lately" Nick paused, "and it has to do with Judy."

Finnick turned around to face the taller fox. He softened his expression and kept on listening.

"I don't know why, but as of late I feel like I haven't acted like myself around her; I don't even know why, though. We've been working together for a few months- hell, I've known her for a year now, and I've never had these kinds of feelings toward her as I do now."

Nick started pacing in a small circle to help get all of his thoughts and feelings out, "It's not like anything bad has happened between us. I've actually never felt..." his voice trailed off as it felt like everything hit him right then and there.

"Happier." A smile started growing on the red fox's face, then went back to pacing in a circle but at a faster step and sounding more excited than before, "We work together, we talk together, we constantly see each other. We argue, but it's always playful, we call each other sweet pet names, w-we are constantly together and happy to be in each other's company!" he stopped on his tracks, and his smile started to disappear, turning into a look of concern and worry.

"And yet, I feel like something just isn't right. I feel like if I tell her how I feel there's something that will" he paused for a moment, then slumped where he stood, "ruin what we have. That's the last thing I want, but… I don't know what to do, Finn! Help me out, please." He begged, clasping his hands together as he turned back to face the fennec.

There was a brief silence between the two foxes. Finnick's lack of response caused Nick to worry. Though before he could even have a chance to say anything…

"Damn, Wilde." Finnick exhaled, brushing his forehead with his right hand as he stood away from the box, and felt a huge grin crossing his face, "you are a complete sucker for that cottontail!"

It didn't take long for the fennec to double over and burst out howling with laughter. Finnick dropped on the floor and held his stomach as he guffawed like a maniac. Nick's expression changed from worry to annoyance- his eyebrows pressed together and he let his arms droop as he waited for the shorter fox to finish his laughing fit.

"You done?" the red fox asked impatiently, cocking an eyebrow as Finnick's laughing slowly died out.

"Ahahaha!" Finnick gasped and wiped away a tear from his eye, "Wilde, I ain't ever pegged you as _this_ big of a sap! Don't tell me you also thought about havin' a future with her! AHAHAHAHA!"

"Can you help me or not?!" a frustrated Nick demanded, "I'm serious! What if I tell her something stupid and she doesn't talk to me ever again?!"

Finnick panted as he regained his breath and composure, now that the laughing had dissolved into short spasms, "Nick, listen up. I don't know if you noticed, but I ain't the one to deal with that mushy-wushy romance shit, alright?"

"Clearly." Nick replied sarcastically, "but you're been in a lot of relationships before."

"Yeah, but not for nothin' on this level." The fennec replied, waving his hands away from his body, then pointed at Nick with his right index finger, "you a fool in love, Wilde. I ain't know a thing about that."

Nick stroked his chin with his right hand and shook his head, "Not a thing, huh?" he replied in his usual cool tone of voice, "funny you should say that considering you're the one remodeling because of your girlfriend, Lover Boy."

Finnick scoffed and swung his hand up in dismissal, "Alright, fine. We've been goin' steady for a while now, but that ain't me sayin' I'm in love, Red." He furrowed his brow and pointed at Nick again, "and don't even think about doin' no secret pen recorder shit with me."

"Finnick, all I want is a little bit of help. Something- anything. Please?" Nick asked sincerely. Finnick stayed silent for a moment before finally answering to his request.

"A'ight, Wilde. I think I got just the thing to help ya out." the fennec replied.

Nick smiled and exhaled in relief upon hearing his former partner's response, "Thank you, you little, big-eared bastard."

"Watch it, Wilde- I can change my mind, ya know?" Finnick shot back at the taller fox, who simply rolled his eyes and slipped his hands into his pants' pockets. Finnick reached into his back pockets and pulled out two concert tickets.

"Concert tickets?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not just any concert tickets- front row, for Gazelle's new tour, performin' tomorrow." Finnick informed him, "normally, these would cost a fortune, but I got them at the low, low price of free."

"How- never mind." Nick was about to ask, then shook his head and waved his left hand aside, "you're just going to… give me those?"

"Do I look like a charity, Wilde?" the fennec asked, furrowing his brow, "You stay up the rest of the night n' help me out fixin' this place up, I'll give you and your sweet little cottontail these babies."

"Gee, that's awfully generous." Nick remarked, with a smirk on his face, "still you'll just give those to us if I help you here?"

"They were a spare pair. I was gon' make a quick buck with 'em outta the stadium, but if I can get you and Miss Bunny Buns hooked up, then I guess that makes me the better fox."

"Careful, you'll dislocate your shoulder if you keep patting yourself on the back that hard." Nick remarked sarcastically.

Finnick frowned and held his hand up, "'nuff jokin'. Do we have a deal or what? Come on, Wilde- we ain't got all night."

Nick thought about the suggestion for a second, then grabbed Finnick's hand with his own and shook it, "you got yourself a deal, big guy."

"That's more like it, Red." Finnick said, cocking a smirk, "you get the tickets, ask your soon-to-be-girl out tomorrow, the four of us enjoy the concert, and it's happily ever after for everyone. You may even finally get laid after all this is said n' done."

Nick's eyes widened and his ears fell flat. Finnick noticed this and started snickering.

"Alright, alright, shut up- let's get this place up and ready, before your girlfriend sees it and stomps on you like a cockroach." Nick snapped at the smaller fox.

"Geez, it was just a joke, Wilde." Finnick said, rolling his eyes, and heading to the back of the apartment, "Seriously, tho- if you two do go at it, just be prepared for what you're gettin' into. Rabbit bitches have crazy high stamina- oh, and when they get in heat-"

"CLEANING. _NOW_." Nick headed to one of the corners to help touch up the paint on the wall.

The two foxes stayed up all night remodeling Finnick's apartment- which wasn't too daunting of a task when splitting the work between them. Still, Finnick's continuous ramblings about rabbits, then switching to other animals, including stories with him and his current girlfriend were giving Nick all sorts of mental images he was not prepared to keep in his mind. Nick suspects that Finnick did this on purpose for getting back at him interrupting him in the middle of work, but the reward was going to be so worth it. Tomorrow… everything was going to change.


	3. Double Date!

**DISCLAIMER:** The rights to Zootopia and its characters belong Disney, and any other company associated with the movie. This was not made for profit, simply out of sheer love and joy I have for this wonderful movie and its insanely lovable characters.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Glad to see you guys are digging the story! I have to warn you guys that the next three chapters may take some time to get ready because this is going to be a VERY busy month of work for me. I normally try to have these ready by the beginning of every month, but if push comes to shove, there may be one time where I don't get to publish a new chapter for the month. If that happens, then I will try my best to make up for it by posting two chapters- one at the beginning and one at the end of the month. I'm not saying that's what WILL happen, but it's a possibility, so just thought I'd give the heads-up in case that happens.

Now it's time to see how the date goes. I'm sure things will go by swimmingly. Also, be warned- VERY long chapter ahead.

* * *

 _[ **CHAPTER 3: DOUBLE DATE** ]_

Friday was finally here- this was going to be the night where things would change, though it was already off to a rocky start.

After spending the entire night cleaning Finnick's place Nick crashed at almost the crack of dawn and was awakened by the sunlight gleaming down on his face through the slits from the closed blinds. Once he opened the blinds and saw the sun was high up in the blue sky, then panicked as he scrambled to call Judy and ask her if would like to go out with him, and Finnick and his date, to catch Gazelle's concert. Luckily for him, Judy agreed to it as her schedule was all clear for the day, though that didn't give Nick much time to prepare before it was time to meet her back at downtown Sahara Square. Nick had fallen asleep in a bin full of half-empty soda cans and woke up with sticky fur, to which Finnick mocked him for, as well as for waking up late. Thankfully, the two foxes needed to stop at the Mystic Springs Oasis to pick up Finnick's girlfriend, so she allowed Nick to freshen up inside while she took the her time to freshen up for the date, letting the foxes get ahead of her. Although by the time they got out they had lost half of the afternoon and now they had to go through the rush hour on their way to the concert.

By the time Nick and Finnick pulled up in front of the famous Palm Hotel, the sun was setting, the sky turned from light blue to orange, to a deep purple as the glowing sphere set over the horizon. The foxes were lucky to find a place to park, though they were agitated from all the time they wasted in the jam.

"You're lucky we still have a good hour or so before the concert starts." Finnick stated, feigning serenity, "It could be worse, I suppose, I mean you only did wake up _in the damn afternoon!_ " he snapped at the red fox.

"Excuse me?" Nick scoffed, "You could have woken me up, you know?"

"Not when it's yo' lazy ass that falls asleep in old soda! I had to finish cleanin' the rest of the crib by myself!"

"Well, excuse me. I should have been more considerate about helping friend who didn't do his homework assigned by girlfriend. That's totally on me." The red fox said in his usual smarmy tone of voice.

"Wilde, don't forget who's helpin' ya out here." Finnick said holding up the concert tickets.

"There's no need to do anything we'll regret, big guy." The taller fox said in a calm tone, then his lips slowly curled into a smile "besides, Judy already knows you're the one giving us the tickets, and she's willing to let some things on your criminal record go, if…"

Nick's voice trailed off as Finnick slowly turned his head to glare at his former partner-in-crime, who simply returned the expression with his usual smug expression.

"Alright, Wilde- well played." The fennec said, softening his expression.

As Finnick handed two concert tickets to Nick he noticed a certain figure on the right-hand car mirror.

"Hey, Loveryboy." The fennec jerked his thumb over his shoulder, which prompted Nick to look out the car window and gasped from seeing who the figure was.

It was none other than Judy Hopps, herself. She was wearing a blue t-shirt with a light blue-colored band that circled the waist and a purple-colored band that circled the rim. She was wearing dark blue pants, and was looking around to see if her partner had shown up yet.

Nick slipped the tickets on his shirt pocket, opened the door, and jumped out of his seat in a hurry. The fox tried to not look like he was in a panic, plastering on his usual casual stroll and cool, relaxed expression.

"There you are, Slick!" Judy exclaimed happily as she noticed her partner, and jumped out of her seat to give her fox partner a hug, "I was wondering when you were goin' to show up!"

Nick was stunned by the sudden hug, though he smiled and returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around her back.

"Oh, hey Carrots!" Nick greeted the rabbit, still trying to sound like his cool and collected self, "Uh, how long have you been waiting there?"

"Oh, not long." Judy replied as she broke off the hug, "Only four days."

Nick quickly shook himself in horror by the response, which made Judy crack up and laugh.

"Pfftahaha! You actually bought that?!" Judy asked, placing her hands on her hips, "are you sure you're feeling alright, Nick?" she asked playfully.

Nick rubbed his face with his free hand and rubbed his face, forcing out a chuckle, "Right. Very funny, Cottontail. I just had a long day, I don't need you making things more difficult."

Judy leaned on her right foot and exhaled a chuckle, "Geez, alright. Whatever you say, Officer Foxy Loxy."

"How dare you offend me like that?" Nick groaned in disgust, though it was still done in a lighthearted manner, which made Judy giggle.

"Calm down, Slick." Judy said in her usual cheery tone, "Oh, and just to satisfy your curiosity, I actually got here not too long ago. I would have arrived earlier, but I got caught up in my own business, too."

"Business, huh?" Nick asked, "You mean the case of whatever happened to Chief Low Waist?"

Judy stifled a laugh and nodded, "Yes, but it looks like he's not the only one acting strange- Clawhauser's also being pretty suspicious."

Nick rolled his eyes and flicked his tongue in a loud "tsk". "Suspicious? Clawhauser? The only thing suspicious about that guy is where the hell he's sneaking in all those donut boxes."

The shorter bunny shook giggled and shook her head in dismissal of Nick's joke. "Well, I've been trying to see if there's any sort of connection, but I haven't been able to get any sort of solid leads- nothing." Judy explained.

Nick tapped his chin with his finger, then waved his hand in the air, "maybe they're both building a secret transmitter to communicate with the aliens."

"You think the aliens still did it, huh?" Judy asked, in amusement.

"Well, if that's still the case, then I feel bad for poor Clawsy. There are things out of this world that his butt isn't ready to experience." Nick said in a serious tone, which made Judy cover her mouth and giggle.

" _Yo, lovebirds!_ " a certain deep angry voice called from behind them, " _Are y'all comin' or what?! My girl's here!_ "

Judy burrowed her brow in confusion, and turned to her partner, "Wait, what? I thought you were all together." She asked, in confusion.

"Yeah, well the thing is that we had to take separate rides." Nick explained, "there's just no way she could have fit into the van."

"Not going to fit?" Judy asked, cocking an eyebrow, "Not to sound rude, but just how big of a fox is she…?" her voice trailed off when she saw Finnick's date, whom scooped the fennec up with her elephant trunk and sat him on her shoulder.

"I never said she was a fox, darling." Nick stated in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"No way" Judy said in complete shock, as she realized who Finnick's date was "Nangi?"

"Finn's always had a thing for big girls- especially elephants." Nick explained as he and Judy walked towards the couple, "ever since he's been working on his own, Finn hit the Springs Oasis regularly, the two met, and the rest, as they say, was history."

They've been together for six months now- Finn's been helping her with her memory problems, while Nangi's been helping Finn out with his short fuse."

"I remember you two." Nangi said in her usual deadpan tone, "Nice to see you both, again."

"Oh, same here." Judy said, as her eyes scanned the elephant from head to toe, "I gotta say- no offense- it's just weird seeing you all dressed up."

"Well, it was all for a special occasion." The elephant replied. She was wearing a black tank top, with dark blue polyester pants, a denim coat with its arms folded up to her elbows, a green, uncoiled scarf on her neck, as well as a colorful bead necklace.

"She's lookin' good if you ask me." Finnick said in a smooth tone. That made Nangi use her trunk to scoop the fennec off her shoulder and lowered him to the ground, which made him groan in disappointment.

"Don't get too excited now- we still have the concert to get to." The elephant informed her tiny boyfriend.

"Although, we still have some free time before it begins." Nick pointed out, "so what can we do while we wait?"

"I have everything covered." The fennec said, then waved his hand at the luxurious hotel in front of them.

Finnick led the entire party into the Palm Hotel lobby, which was furbished by glistening, tiled floors, high arched ceilings decorated with Italian Renaissance-style paintings, and huge pillars adorning the walls, and animals of all shapes and sizes bustling about their business. To the group's left was the Palm Hotel's casino, which look like it stretched on for miles. It was full of various games, wheels, decorated tables, bars, and even an arcade to keep the young cubs at, while the parents enjoyed their "grown-up games".

"That's what where we're goin'." The fennec said, smugly crossing her arms across his chest.

The rest of Fennec's party was stunned by the splendorous décor, the fine art that plastered the inside of the hotel, and of course, all of the countless games- slot machines, blackjack, roulette- anything they could find, and they were more than ready to gamble… except there was one problem.

"That place looks amazing" Nick exhaled, then he folded his arms across his chest as he turned back to the smaller fox, "One problem- we're broke."

Finnick exhaled a light chuckle and shook his head, "You say 'we', however _I_ have a little something to fix that." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a large wad of money.

Judy and Nick stare at the fennec smugly waving the bills in his hands, then slipped it back into his pocket. Judy then spoke up.

"Just where did you-?" Judy began to ask.

"None of your business, Cottontail." The smaller fox replied, "it's just something for me and the lady here to enjoy." He flashed at cheeky grin at the elephant, who returned a sly smile, then the two faced the cops.

"So, hang on." Nick waved his hands in front of his face as he collected his thoughts, "you're just going to flash all that money in front of our faces, which you're going to burn all by gambling- just between you two- and you're not going to give us _any_ of it?"

"Wilde, do I look like a charity to you?" Finnick asked, cocking an eyebrow, "I already gave y'all the tickets- what more do you want from me?"

"Then what are we supposed to do?" the red fox asked, gesturing his hand to himself and Judy, "we don't exactly have the kind of cash to spend at a casino."

"What'd you think the arcade is for?" Finnick asked, waving his hand in the direction of the more child-friendly arcade. The cops turned to see the arcade- which was still impressively-large, though nowhere near the seemingly-never-ending casino. It was full of video games, air hockey tables, skeeball machines, and some kid-friendly slot machines, which rewarded tickets, not money.

Nick turned back to his former partner in crime, with an annoyed look on his face, then back to his bunny partner.

"I don't mind, actually." Judy replied, with a simple shrug and a small smile, "I was never really much of the gambling type, anyway."

"You sure about this, Carrots?" Nick asked. Judy nodded, and Finnick clasped his hands together.

"Excellent." Finnick stated happily, as he was scooped up by Nangi's trunk and sat on her shoulder, "we'll meet at the front entrance, right before the concert starts."

"Alright- don't have _too_ much fun out there, ya crazy kids." Nick remarked in a dull tone, before turning to Judy and slipping his hands into his pockets, "so, ya ready to mess with the PG-rated casino."

Judy giggled, turned on her heel and started walking towards the arcade alongside her vulpine partner, "Come on, Slick, it doesn't look that bad. I've never been to an arcade before, anyway."

"Really? You don't have giant, luxurious casinos down at Bunnyburrow?" Nick asked sarcastically, while Judy simply glanced back at him and responded with a forced smile.

"I'll take that as a 'no'."

"Very funny, fox. We did have little country fairs with all sorts of games." Judy explained, "This looks sort of like that… only a bit more expensive."

"You can say that again." Nick grumbled under his breath, then cleared his throat and continued talking "though I actually used to visit this place a lot when I was little."

"Really?" Judy asked holding an incredulous look on her face, "how?"

"Well, back in my absolutely _shameful_ con artist days" Nick declared dramatically, "Finnick and I had no choice but to beg for money, just so us two poor kids could have some food… and fun. Is that too much to ask?"

Judy rolled her eyes at Nick's playful overdramatic acting, "you two? Begging for handouts? That doesn't sound like the Nick and Finnick I know."

As they both approached the money exchange machine for tokens, Nick wagged his finger, and used his other hand to reach for his wallet, "But you forget one thing- we were both up to our flawless tricks, even in our younger years."

Nick nodded as he slipped a bill into the machine, "I used to be pretty light with my fingers- you couldn't even _feel_ my cute, little paws sneaking their way into your pocket, but you could feel your wallet feeling considerably lighter. Of course, by the point out foolish victims noticed, we were already rolling in tickets and caramel-coated apples."

"Wow, sneaky, even as a cub." Judy remarked as she reached down and grabbed the tokens from the machine.

"And" Nick held up his left index finger in the air, then turned his hand to his right hand waving a $20 bill, "I haven't lost a step."

Judy's ears perked up, and she looked behind her to see her wallet sticking out of her back pocket. She then turned back to glare at the grinning fox.

"Well played, Slick." Judy scoffed, then grabbed the bill back from the fox's paw, then a thought came to her "you know, that gives me an idea."

"I'm listening." Nick said attentively, rising an eyebrow, and with a smug grin on his face.

"We have some time before the concert right? Well, how about we see who wins at the most games before the concert? Loser pays for dinner."

Nick chuckled smugly and crossed his arms across his chest, "betting against a former con artist? Are you sure you really want to do that, Carrots?"

"I don't know if you noticed, but I am pretty good at facing the odds, and succeeding." Judy said, in a tone as smug as Nick's "turning into one of the top police officer's in Zootopia? Not too bad for just a hick bunny, now is it?"

"Alright, darling, but it's your funeral- Officer Wilde loves his free food, especially when it's paid out of your pocket." Nick held out his paw.

Judy extended her own hand out and shook the fox's paw, "I already know where I want you to take me out to, when I win."

"Now, how about we start with something simple?" Nick asked, then waved his hand to present two arcade basketball machines, "or do you also not have basketball down at the farm?"

"Very funny, Slick Neck." Judy remarked, giving Nick half of the tokens, "but why don't I let me kicking your tail do the talking."

"I can't wait to see you eat your words, as I eat a delicious blueberry, kiwi, and strawberry salad with a side of your tears." The fox remarked as he slipped his tokens into the coin slot of his machine.

Judy inserted her tokens into the coin slot, and soon enough the gates lifted and the basketballs rolled at the bottom of the cage. The two cops reached for a ball then waited for the timer to start; as soon as the two animals heard a loud buzz come from the machine, the timer lit up and started counting down.

Both Nick and Judy quickly lobbed their first basketballs, both going through the hoop with ease. The two mammals quickly reached for their next basketballs, Judy jumped and shot the ball, hitting the backboard and bouncing back into the hoop. Nick shot the ball, though it bounced off the ring and rolled back to the bottom of the cage. He quickly grabbed another basketball and shot it at the hoop, which bounced in the ring, then finally rolled through the hoop. Judy jumped and shot her next ball, slipping through the hoop, and making a loud "swish".

Every time she dropped back to the ground, she quickly scooped up a ball in one arm, jumped and threw the ball again. Nick was trying to keep up with his rabbit partner's agile pace, and seeing her making baskets like a machine was throwing off his rhythm. Eventually, the timer hit 0:00, and a loud buzzer was heard. Nick snapped his fingers in frustration as his last ball bounced off the ring, and hit the clear plastic panel as it bounced back to the closed gate. The tickets started printing out of their respective machines, with Judy scoring a bigger sum of tickets than her partner.

"Hopps 27, Wilde 18." Judy declared proudly, "why I do believe that you got served, Red Tail."

"Ouch. Gotta watch where you throw the outdated slang, Cottontail, you could hurt someone with that." Nick remarked sarcastically, holding a straight look on his face, "doesn't matter, that was just a warm-up. I still have plenty of time left to crush you."

"Well, then show me how, Big Bad Fox." The rabbit said smugly, quickly tapping her foot.

"Skeeball sound good?" the fox asked, swinging his hand to present his partner the skeeball machines.

"Would you like to know if we had skeeball down at the farm?" Judy asked cheerily.

Nick forced a chuckle as the two made their way to the skeeball machines and inserted their tokens into the coin slots.

The plastic balls soon roll into the gutter and the two cops grabbed one then rolled them through the ramp. The balls bounced off the ramp and into the baskets. Both land right into the "10", but the two cops quickly reach for the next balls on the container to outscore the other.

"Not bad. For a bunny." Nick remarked, quickly flashing a grin at his partner.

"Yeah, I could say the same for you in basketball; I thought it was the taller mammals were supposed be good at it." the rabbit shot back as she rolled a ball at the ramp, again.

"That was luck." Nick shot back, throwing another ball at the ramp.

"I thought it was predators that were supposed to have better athletic prowess."

"Then how does that explain why prey are so good at running away from us?"

"Survival and sports are to different things, Slick. You spent your childhood scamming, I spent mine at the gym, and" she paused as her next ball rolled into the high-scoring "45" hole "keeping my eye on the ball."

Nick growled as his next ball rolled into the bottom hole- not even scoring a point.

The balls stopped rolling out, and a stream of tickets started printing out of their respective machines. Judy, once again, scored the larger amount of tickets compared to her fox partner.

Nick crossed his arms across his chest and released a soft "hmph", not looking at his shorter partner.

"Oooh, someone's a sore loser." Judy remarked as she collected and rolled up her tickets, "don't worry, Nicky-Poo- I might share some of my carotte brulee with you, after I win."

"You know what?" Nick adjusted his tie and turned his face to Judy, flashing his usual cool and collected smile, "It's fine, it's fine, and you want to know why? Because I'm all fully warmed up, and ready to show your place in a bit of a more… confrontational game."

"What? Prance Prance Revolution?" Judy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Nick chuckled lightly and shook his head, "Air hockey, Darling. When I was little, I never lost a game- also was another easy way to score some free cash."

"Did Finn help you out with that?" Judy asked playfully as the two made their way to opposite ends of the table.

"No, sweetheart. All skill, therefore I get 100% pure bragging rights." Nick said smugly, as he grabbed his paddle.

"So, my kicking your ass wasn't skill?" Judy remarked in a playful tone, as she leaned her head on one hand and twirled her paddle with the other hand.

"We" Nick stated firmly as he grabbed the rubber puck, "are done talking. I am going to show you your place, Bunnyburrow."

Judy's expression turned from relaxed to determined as she took a tight grip on her paddle and took a firm stance spreading her legs lowered her ears, "do your worst, Foxhole."

Nick threw the rubber disk on the polished plastic table and smacked the disk with the paddle, launching it at the opposite side. Judy quickly swung her paddle to block the puck from going to her goal, then swung back to hit the puck back at Nick. The ex-con artist swiftly blocked the incoming shot, bouncing the puck away from his goal, making it ricochet from wall to wall, then fired his arm straight ahead, striking the puck and sending it flying at high speed right into the bunny cop's goal. Judy stared in shock at the puck hitting the metallic basket in her end, then turned her head back at her partner who cocked and eyebrow and his lips pressed into a cocky grin.

"You're not beating the king at his game, Flopsy." Nick said in a smooth tone, as Judy bent down to pick up the rubber puck.

"I can't wait to wipe that grin off your face." Judy said, lightly shaking the disk in her hand before dropping it on the table and hitting it with her paddle, right at the fox's goal.

"I don't think so, hare." Nick said as he swung his arm at the disk, and sent it flying at the walls, having the disk bounce around from wall to wall and back to Judy, "But I'd like to see you try."

"Please- one point is nothing." Judy blocked the bouncing puck, and it slowly slid back to the center of the table. Though she tried to reach the puck, her arms were just too short.

"Let me get that for you." Nick said quickly, then stretched himself forward to strike the puck with his paddle, sending it flying right into Judy's goal.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Judy exclaimed.

"Right." Nick responded, bringing his right hand to his face and tapping his chin with his index finger, "Well, then I suppose neither is you jumping higher to shoot the baskets, now is it?"

"I can't help that, I'm a bunny!"

"Then I'm afraid I can't help being taller than you." The fox shrugged.

Judy glowered at her partner for a moment, then her expression softened, "fair enough." She picked up and dropped the rubber puck on the table.

"Now you see, was that so hard-?" before Nick could finish his sentence, he heard a loud metallic "BANG", and soon saw the rubber disk in his own basket. He could only stare back at Judy in shock.

"What's another thing bunnies can't help? Oh yeah- lightning fast reflexes." Judy remarked proudly as Nick slowly bent down to grab the puck in two fingers, not breaking eye contact with Judy or even blinking, "also, trying to be nice- but I guess your warranty for that is up."

"Alright, if that's how it's going to be, then no Mr. Nice Fox." Nick then sent the disk flying back at his partner, who quickly blocked the shot, then fired the puck back at the ex-con artist with a loud "CLACK".

Nick barely managed to catch the disk puck as it got jammed between his paddle and goal, then hit the puck at the wall so it rapidly bounced around in a zig-zag line, though the rabbit cop blocked the puck, and fired it back in a diagonal, bouncing off the wall, and going into the goal as Nick tried to dive his paddle at the ball to block it, and missed.

The fox growled in frustration, then grabbed the puck and threw it at the table, firing it at Judy, this throw being noticeably slower than his previous attempts. Judy lightly moved her paddle to bounce the shot away from her goal, then noticed Nick sweating.

"What's the matter, Slick? Can't keep up?" Judy asked in a taunting, though playful tone, "don't worry, I'm sure you'll get past my devious defense of standing here."

Nick clenched his fist, in frustration, then struck the puck back at Judy, "well, you're definitely making me work for my victory."

"No need to feel upset, Nicky-poo." Judy replied as the puck slowed down to her side, "it's only a dinner, after all…" she then delivered a hard swing at the puck, sending it flying to Nick's goal. The red fox slid the paddle back to his goal to block the shot, but his paddle slipped right from his sweaty palm, and let the goal open for the puck to slide right in, hitting the back of the metal basket, but not dropping down on the opening for Nick to grab- netting Judy another victory.

"… _my_ dinner." Judy said, resting her hands on her hips, and grinning at the defeated fox.

"I just" Nick panted, then frowned "don't understand. I can't keep up with you."

"No need to be _that_ upset, it was only a game." Judy said in a friendlier tone.

"It's not just the air hockey, Judy. You're simply so much better than me at" he paused as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, "everything. Whether it's these games, being a cop, being diligent, punctual, and anything else, you're always a step ahead."

Judy stood silent for a moment, and continued hearing her partner lament.

"I thought this would be one thing I could impress you with, and yet" he shook his head, "couldn't do it."

"Nick?" Judy spoke up. Nick's ear perked up and he turned his face to his partner, "this has got to be both the sweetest and corniest thing I've ever seen you do. You were trying to impress me? Nick, come on- there's no need to impress me, or anyone."

"But you really are just amazing at everything." Nick declared, sounding defeated.

"Come on, Slick. I'm telling you there's nothing you need to do to impress me. I mean, we are on a date, aren't we?"

Both of Nick's ears perked up, and his cheeks were starting to feel warm from hearing Judy's words.

"Date?" Nick repeated, "I never said-"

"Come on, Nick- did you really think I wouldn't notice?" Judy raised an eyebrow, leaned on one foot and set her hands on her hips, "the hesitant phone call, the concert, you trying to act smoother than usual- wait a minute." Judy brought her right hand to her mouth, and then a smile started growing on her face.

"W-what?" Nick asked nervously, darting his eyes around the casino.

"Is this why you've been acting so strange?" Judy asked, trying to hold back the glee in her voice, "you've wanted to ask me out on a date for a while, didn't you?"

Now Nick could feel his whole face heating up in embarrassment, though by this point he had gotten caught and cornered, "y-yes, it's true." He scratched the back of his neck, "I've wanted to go out with you for some time, but I never knew how to approach you. That and we've been constantly busy, so- OOF!" Nick felt the air get knocked out of him as the small, fluffy, grey rabbit nearly tackled him with a hug.

"Oh, you silly fox- do you have any idea how long I've waited for this?" Judy asked as she nuzzled her partner's chest.

"Y-you wanted to ask me out?" Nick asked in total surprise, "w-why didn't you?"

"Well" Judy tilted her head to one side and scratched the back of her neck, "I was nervous about asking you out. Though I wasn't anywhere near as dramatic about it as you were." She then playfully poked her partner's arm.

Nick let out a deep breath of relief, then his expression softened, now feeling less nervous, he returned Judy's hug and wrapped his arms around her back. The two enjoyed the other's embrace, until Nick felt something vibrating in his pocket.

"Huh? What?" Nick asked, confused, "What on Earth…?" he reached into his pocket and grabbed his cellphone out of there.

"What's the matter?" Judy asked, looking up at the fox.

"It's Finnick" then it hit him, "THE CONCERT!"

Judy's eyes widened, then she reached into her pocket for her own phone to see the time, "it starts in fifteen minutes!"

The two cops rush out of the arcade and back to the lobby, where they saw Nangi sitting on one of the chairs for large mammals, and Finnick was resting on her stomach, holding his phone to his ear.

"It's about time- do you have any idea how long the damn line is?!" the impatient fennec snarled.

"Sorry for making you wait, Junior." Nick remarked sarcastically, "but not worry, daddy's here."

"If we weren't so pressed for time right now, I swear to our good lord in heaven-" Finnick was about to go on a long tirade, but he was stopped by his five-thousand pound girlfriend's trunk coiling around his face.

"No time for that." Nangi said firmly, "we head to concert, now."

"Thanks a lot, Nangi- I probably never would have stopped hearing the end of it." Nick said.

The group ran out of the Palm Hotel- luckily, the stadium was not far from the hotel, only about two blocks away, and their front-row passes meant they were going to get some good seats no matter what, though wading through the line was going to be a pain.

"Hey, Judy." Nick spoke up to his partner, "you don't think if we flash our badges-?"

"Don't even think about it, ya dumb fox." Judy replied quickly.

"Just thought I'd ask."

The group arrived at the stadium, with only a few minutes to spare, and warm-up act setting up stage. Thankfully, they still had plenty of time to hear the main event, and once they managed to get inside, they got a hold of their seats, and were set to enjoy the singing from the Angel with Horns, herself.

The concert was bright, colorful, and a lot of fun for both couples, but just because the concert ended, that doesn't mean the night was over.


	4. The More Things Change

**DISCLAIMER:** The rights to Zootopia and its characters belong Disney, and any other company associated with the movie. This was not made for profit, simply out of sheer love and joy I have for this wonderful movie and its insanely lovable characters.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Happy new year! I'm terribly sorry for the long wait, but things like school work and moving back to my parents' kept me from doing anything with the fanfic. Do not fret, the long waiting periods are over and I'll be back to my regular monthly writing period like I was before. So enjoy this as my long overdue Christmas gift from 2016! ;D

\- Also, I'm very glad to see that everyone's been having fun, but time for the date to end. So, what will everyone's favorite two small mammals do after an exhausting concert? Let's find out.

* * *

 _[ **CHAPTER 4: THE MORE THINGS CHANGE...** ]_

" _¡Muchas gracias, Zootopia!_ " the horned popstar Gazelle shouted as her song ended and her tiger dancers relaxed from their posing, sending the crowd into a cheering frenzy, though nobody in the crowd stood up as much as a certain group of animals way up front: an elephant who had a small, particularly large-eared vulpine sitting on her shoulder, and next to her the one and only two heroes of Zootopia themselves, jumping on their spots whooping and clapping. "Thank you all so much for coming to the show!" Especially because we have some very special animals as part of the audience tonight!" she waved her hand to gesture the nearby cameras to turn to the front row.

* * *

Now that the concert had finished, animals were walking out of the halls and outside the stadium. Some were hanging around the area talking with their friends, others were looking for where they had parked, and some even remained inside. Nick, Judy, Finnick, and Nangi were in that group who still remained inside the stadium. They were walking past by the reception, where animals were talking about the concert, though soon the group turned its attention towards the two cops.

"So, you two certainly enjoyed the concert." Finnick remarked, grinning at Nick and Judy.

"Well, of course" Nick replied matter-of-factly, "Gazelle knows how to deliver."

"That's not what I'm talking about." Finnick said, "I saw you two."

"It's cute that you admire us, but we're not part of the show." Judy said. Nick's eyes widened from Judy's response.

"Hey, NOW you're getting the handle of snarky responses!" the taller fox exclaimed, "Carrots, now you're really making me proud."

"Only now I make you proud? By learning to be a smug jerk like you?" the bunny said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Ouch. Alright, you learned TOO well from me." Nick replied, feigning sounding hurt. He suddenly stopped as he saw Finnick facing the both of them with his arms crossed across his chest.

"That's why." Finnick stated, "listen, if you two are just going to start makin' out now, we can go home and give y'all some space."

"I thought this was a double date." Nick then pouted pitifully, while Judy giggled.

"Yeah, about that, we were gon' split anyway."

"Finnick and I have some business to take care off back at his apartment." Nangi said.

"Busi- you know what? I don't want to know." Judy said, shaking her head dismissively.

"But before we go- yo, Cottontail." Finnick called to Judy, "mind if I borrow your boyfriend for a couple minutes?"

"Depends. He's not part of this 'business', now is he?" Judy asked.

"Wha- hell nah!" Finnick barked, "Nangi may be a big, gorgeous elephant with a lot to love, but she's all mine!"

Judy stifled a laugh, while Nick patted her shoulder, "Don't worry, Carrots- it won't be long, I promise."

"Don't make me start worry about you foxes, again." Judy remarked, cocking a smirk at her orange-furred partner while he walked into one of the halls with his former partner-in-crime.

"Come on, we spent an entire night without causin' trouble- what's a few extra minutes gonna cost ya?!" Nick asked as he and Finnick distanced themselves from their dates.

"Listen, Red." Finnick whispered, "I'm gonna make this quick- you're doin' a good job here. I hate to say it, but I'm pretty impressed."

"Not gonna lie- I thought I had screwed up majorly this entire night." Nick exhaled, "but I guess if Judy is still sticking around with me, then that means I must be doing something right."

"Now don't get ahead of yourself, Don Juan, the night ain't over." Finnick then reached into his pocket, "now, I ain't sayin' you two could do it all the way- let alone for this bein' your first date in years."

Nick rolled his eyes, "Come on, Finn, that's uncalled for. Also, 'all the way'? You're not saying-?"

Finnick then pulled out a few small plastic packages, "I ain't sayin' it's a guarantee, but it never hurts to be safe, now does it?"

"We haven't even kissed and you're pulling out the rubbers?!" the flustered fox exclaimed, though was quickly shushed by Finnick so they don't attract the girls' attention.

"You can't be serious about this." Nick said in a quieter tone.

"Wilde, all I'm sayin' is that it's possible, and- I ain't sayin' this just cuz she's a bunny- it's just nice to be prepared for anything."

"Just look at her." Nick turned his face to see his partner chatting with Nangi, "she has everything under control."

While Nick's attention was turned to the girls, Finnick used this chance to quickly slip in the small packages into the taller fox's shirt pocket.

"Besides, I'm sure she has the most control of her libido out of anybody at the station. I would know- I would smell it."

Nick's face turned read realizing what he said, "not that I actually smell her scents or anything like that, so don't get the wrong-"

"Wilde. Enough." Finnick said, "if you don't want 'em, fine. I was just tryin' to do ya a favor."

Nick sighed and rubbed his temples with one hand while placing the other on his hip, "Sorry, Finn. I'm just very nervous. I don't want to slip up, now. If there's anything in my life that I don't want to screw up, it's this."

"Relax, big guy." Finnick said in a surprisingly comforting tone, "things are going great between you two. I mean seriously, Nick, what could really go wrong?"

Nick returned a relaxed smile and patted his former partner-in-crime's shoulder, "thanks for all the help, Finnick. Couldn't have done this without you."

"Don't think that I'm goin' be extra nice like this from now on. It's just that you two are perfect for each other is why I'm doin' all this." Finnick then leaned forward to whisper to his ear, "especially if it means that you'll finally get laid~"

Before Nick could sputter a word, the small fox was scooped up by Nangi's trunk and was sat on her shoulder again.

"Well, that's my cue to go!" Finnick then reached into his pocket and threw the keys to his van at Nick, who caught them in his palm, "you better bring 'er back in one piece tomorrow morning, understood?"

"The van or Judy?" Nick asked in a cocky tone while Judy elbowed his ribs.

"Don't start this, Wilde. And you, Cottontail." He turned to Judy, "please keep an eye on him."

"Pheh. I think that's my secondary career at this point." Judy replied while Nick rolled his eyes. She then waved at the couple and shouted, "take care! And thank you for inviting us!"

As soon as Nangi and Finnick were gone, Nick walked back to Judy, and offered his hand to her.

"Ready to hit the road, my dear Carrots?" Nick asked gallantly.

"Oh for sure, my handsome Prince Slick… AFTER that dinner you promised me." she grinned and set her hands on her hips.

"And here I was hoping you'd forgotten about that." Nick groaned and snapped his fingers.

"Did you really think I'd let you off the hook that easily?"

"I can't ever get out of your hook it seems." Nick exhaled. He felt something soft sliding into his open hand, then saw Judy's hand closing around his own padded palm.

"Well, especially not now." Judy said, her lips curling to a sweet smile. Nick was sure that if his heart was beating any louder, Judy would be able to hear it.

"G-guess not." Nick choked out, then cleared his throat, "well, let's get you that dinner, Judy."

Once the two mammals headed outside the stadium Nick's ears twitched from hearing something loud, something that sounded like shouting.

"Do you…?" Nick began to ask though Judy nodded in response before she could finish the question.

"Yeah, I hear it too." the bunny replied. She raised her hand and pointed to two animals yelling at each other- a woodchuck and a fox, "should we intervene?"

The woodchuck then threw a punch at the smaller fox and knocked him to the ground. Other animals around that were merely glancing at the two mammals yelling now started circling around the two fighting, and now scratching each other.

"Affirmative." Nick said, nodding. Both her and Judy reached into their pockets and pulled out their ZPD badges as they ran through the crowd into the fight.

"That's it, break it up! BREAK IT UP!" Judy shouted at the crowd, while Nick separated the two animals fighting with each other.

"We're ZPD officers! Get away from here, folks! The show's over!" the red fox shouted at the crowd, whom then started to disperse. Nick held the older animal by his wrists and handcuffed him.

"What the living hell?!" the woodchuck yelled at Nick, "Oh sure, you're letting the fox go because you're a fox yourself, aren't you?!"

"We're not letting him go free." Judy said as she held the young fox by his wrists, "I'm going to get a hold of his parents and let them take care of him. You handle the woodchuck, Officer Wilde."

"Will do, Officer Hopps." Nick nodded then turned back to the woodchuck, "And before you ask, the kid's a minor. I think that a thirty-something –old, dirty-looking woodchuck should know better than to pick a fight with a kid."

"You no-good…" the woodchuck began to grumble then paused, "Wait. Wilde?"

"Yes, Officer Nick Wilde." The red fox repeated, "the first fox officer in Zootopia."

"I know you from somewhere, Nick…" then it hit the woodchuck, "wait, you're the same fox that tried to be a Junior Ranger!"

Nick froze from hearing those words, and that's when it hit him. He KNEW who this woodchuck was, and what he did to him when he was a young cub.

"Well, this isn't the reunion I had in mind to see you again." Nick remarked, though his remark sounded hollow rather than his usual sarcastic tone, "but I see you haven't changed a lot since then."

"Listen fox, you may be an officer now but it will never change what you are."

Nick gritted his teeth and huffed through his nose, "sir, as an officer I need to remind you have the right to remain silent and anything you say can and WILL be used against you in a court of law."

Meanwhile Judy had finished a phone call talking to the young fox's parents.

"… thank you very much. I'll be waiting right here with him, ma'am." Judy said, then dialed off and slipped her phone in her pocket. She turned her head to the young fox, who was just looking down at the ground and grumbling to himself. "Your parents will be here in just a few minutes, Tyler."

"It's not my fault any of this happened." Tyler said in his squeaky prepubescent voice, "I was just minding my own business when this big, ugly woodchuck just decided to start insulting me for being a fox, and he just wouldn't leave me alone!"

"You shouldn't mind him. Some animals are just that way." Judy said matter-of-factly.

"He said predators should be muzzled up like it was in the past." The smaller red fox said while Judy just shook her head.

"Listen, times are changing, but not all animals do. It's important to remember that most animals have gone past that, but there's still a few…" Judy's voice trailed off as something caught her attention.

Judy saw Nick was getting really agitated dealing with the woodchuck, who was still verbally assaulting him about being a predator. He was clenching his fists and pressing his brow hard. Judy took this as a cue to step in front of Nick and the woodchuck to separate them.

"Officer Wilde, if I may just take care of the woodchuck. You have done your part well." The bunny was trying to keep the situation professional before things got ugly. Nick huffed through his nose and let the handcuffed rodent in charge of his partner's hands.

"Fine." Nick replied dryly. No witty remark or anything, which only worried Judy more.

"First fox officer and you can't even be trusted to lock up prey." The woodchuck scoffed, "this just proves it- you should have stayed in your muzzle, fox."

Without warning, the fox pounced the cuffed rodent, releasing a furious snarl as he pinned his former Junior Ranger leader. His claws were bared and digging into the woodchuck's face, his sharp canine teeth were exposed and his lips were quivering from his low growling, and his eyes were darting down at the pinned prey animal. Nick's expression was so full of hatred that he didn't even care to notice the horrified expression on the rodent, and was so determined to do something heinous that the only thing that broke him out of his predatory trance was a faint shout that progressively became louder, and he was forcefully yanked away from the cuffed woodchuck.

"NICK!"

The red fox growled at the animal that pulled him away from the woodchuck only to see that it was his own partner Judy, who had an expression that was a mix of concern and fear.

"Nick, what's gotten into you?" the bunny asked as her partner shook himself out of his state.

Nick's expression softened and his claws retreated. He looked around the scene in panic, seeing the other animals that were stunned by his sudden action, only to focus back on his partner, who was reeling on the ground and staring at him with her distraught purple eyes.

"Nick, what-?"

"I-I gotta- I'm sorry, Judy." Nick quickly got to his feet, turned and ran deep into the crowd of animals.

Judy's ears perked up and she quickly jumped to her feet. Though as she tried to run after her partner, she lost sight of him in the animals that were circling the scene of the crime, some of which approached Judy and asked if she was fine and others were murmuring about how Nick almost attacked her and the woodchuck.

"Nick…" Judy's voice trailed off again. Her ears drooped as she stood in the middle of the scene as police sirens wailed closer and louder to the stadium.

"… why didn't you say anthing?"


	5. Old Wounds, New Emotions

**DISCLAIMER:** The rights to _Zootopia_ and its characters belong Disney, and any other company associated with the movie. This was not made for profit, simply out of sheer love and joy I have for this wonderful movie and its insanely lovable characters.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I know, I know, I was pretty cruel to Nick in the last chapter, but I don't think anyone here minds a bit of necessary drama, and Nick is a character that's very good for both drama and comedy, so I had to exploit his wounds to make for an interesting story. Ahh, he'll be fine… but will he recover? Why don't we find out together in this new chapter?

\- Also, sorry if I haven't been responding to any of the reviews I've been getting, I DO really appreciate them and I'm happy that you're all enjoying my work. I'd like to think that for a first fanfic I'm doing a pretty solid job, and the positive word of mouth has encouraged me to believe that. Don't worry, the long delays will soon be over as the fanfic is coming to a close, but the story ain't over yet! ;D

* * *

 _[ **CHAPTER 5: OLD WOUNDS, NEW EMOTIONS** ]_

Not long after the forces arrived the woodchuck was cuffed and taken away in a police car for assaulting a minor. The minor in question was picked up by his mother who was both very upset yet relieved that her son wasn't harmed. Though as the cops were picking up details on what happened they were surprised to hear that one of their own attacked.

"Nick Wilde?" Benjamin Clawhauser repeated as he finished taking his notes from a pair of kudus, "he pounced?" the kudus nodded to his question.

"Wilde is a lot of things but he wouldn't just attack an animal out of the blue." said Chief Bogo, who was within earshot of the conversation.

"The woodchuck said something about how he and all predators should have been muzzled, and then he jumped!" one of the kudus said.

Clawhauser flinched from hearing this. The cheetah turned to Bogo who simply shook his head. Out of the corner of his eye Bogo saw Judy sitting on the curb, cellphone in hand and her ears drooped behind her head.

Judy audibly sighed and curled her legs up so she could bury her face on her knees. Her eardrums twitched when she heard the sounds of hooves scratching along the pavement getting closer to her. She turned her head and saw her large buffalo boss standing behind her with a sympathetic look in his face.

"Worried about him, eh Hopps?" Bogo asked in a soft tone. The bunny slowly stood up and turned around to face (or look up in her case) the large bovine and nodded.

"He's not answering back." Judy finally spoke up, as she slipped her phone inside her pocket, "he panicked then ran off. He took the van with him so he could be anywhere in Zootopia by now."

Bogo knelt to be closer to Judy's height, though he stilled towered over the little long-eared mammal, "what happened to him? You were spending the night with him, weren't you?"

"I was, we were having a date" Judy couldn't help but smile as she mentioned the date, then her smile disappeared as she kept on recounting the details, "we just came out of Gazelle's concert when we saw the fight break out and tried to stop them. I dealt with the fox and Nick dealt with the woodchuck and then it all just happened so fast." Her voice trailed as her mind went back to the wellbeing of her partner.

"From what the animals that witnessed the fight happen, they said the woodchuck and Wilde were having a quarrel, and the woodchuck made a remark about how he should be muzzled and all other predators too." Bogo explained then scoffed, "can you believe it?"

Though Judy didn't respond instead she stood pensive, then suddenly everything clicked.

"I think I know what happened." Judy said softly, "and I think I also know where he is now!"

Bogo perked up his brow from seeing Judy get excited from her realization.

"I'm going to need a lift." The bunny said, determined, "if he's where I think he is I'm going to have to deal with him myself.

* * *

On the outskirts of Zootopia was an old, worn down warehouse with broken glasses, rusted metal walls, and one of its doors was halfway open. A police car drove up to an old arched bridge which was covered in grass and dirt. The passenger's door swung open and out of it jumped Judy, who quickly looked over the edge of the bridge but saw nothing on the dried up river except for an empty lawn chair.

"Not here." The bunny said then quickly ran around the bridge and slid down the hill to see if her partner was under the bridge. Clawhauser came out from the driver's seat and looked over the bridge and saw Judy shaking her head as she walked out from beneath the structure.

"Anything?" the friendly cheetah asked in a concerned tone of voice.

"No" the bunny replied then impatiently tapped her foot on the dirt, "he was here last time." She muttered to herself as she began to pace.

Clawhauser looked over his shoulder and saw the open door to the warehouse then turned to Judy as she climbed out of the dried-up pit.

"You don't think he might be in there?" he asked and motioned his hand to the open door.

Judy noted the entrance then the two cops approached the door to get a closer look. The bunny stepped inside first and noted how dark the inside was, so she pulled out her phone and used its built-in flashlight to see what was inside. She was large tubes, incomplete rails, and something that she could have sworn looked like an incomplete bumper car. She looked back at Clawhauser who was about to ask if he should step inside until the both of them heard a noise- a snivel.

Judy gestured to Clawhauser to stay still while she slowly moved around the piles of junk until the breathing and gasping sounds became louder and clearer. The grey-furred mammal lowered and hid her ears behind her head as she peeked around the corner of rusty, broken billboard and saw him- Nick, lying on top of an old mattress in a clearing from all of the trash in the warehouse. The moonlight shining through the window made it easy to see the clearing, and she could see the fox lying face down on the pillows as his sobbing started to slow down.

"Oh my goodness- Nick!" that shout was a mix of worry and relief, and it startled the red fox so much that was almost knocked off the mattress by the power of Judy jumping and embracing him tightly.

"There you are! I'm so glad you're okay!" she cried out happily as she kept her arms around her partner and had her face pressed against his chest. The red fox was still letting his mind catch up to speed as he looked down at the bunny hugging him like she hadn't seen him in years.

"Judy" Nick said in a quiet voice, "h-hey, nice to see you-"

"YOU FOUND HIM?! IS NICK OKAY?!" shouted Clawhauser as he ran deeper inside the warehouse, which startled both of the smaller mammals and finally made Judy release Nick.

"He's still alive! Oh, thank goodness!" he was about to hug Nick as well but Nick held up his hand and shook his head.

"Clawhauser, Judy, thank you for your concern." He said in an uncharacteristically joyless tone, "but I really don't need the company right now." He took a deep breath and kept looking at the ground so his two friends couldn't see his face, "I just want to be alone."

Both Judy and Clawhauser were taken back at this request, though without another word said the two of them stayed in silence and turned to leave. Nick laid himself back down on the mattress and rolled on his side so his back faced the entrance. Though after a couple of minutes Nick rolled on his side again and saw Judy standing right beside the bed with her arms crossed across her chest.

"Judy please, I said-"

"I'm not going to leave, Nick." Judy said sternly. She softened her expression and lowered her arms, "Nick, I want to help you. Please."

After a moment of silence Nick sat up on the bed and now Judy could get a better look at him. His fur was disheveled and stained with tears, his shirt was wrinkled, and eyes were completely bloodshot from crying so much.

"Yeah, I look like a wreck, I know." Nick scoffed bitterly, "But I guess at least you can finally see how a predator is when he's completely vulnerable."

"Nick, how can you say that? After what happened back there I was worried I wasn't going to find you." Judy said sounding concerned, "and once I had heard of everything I realized what the problem was." She sat on the edge of the bed next to her partner, "was that it? Was the thing that was giving you problems," she turned her head to see Nick's as he was still looking at his own feet, "you?"

The red fox darted his eyes and exhaled through his nose. After a brief silence he decided to speak.

"I was worried that this would happen one day."

"This?" Judy repeated.

"Well, maybe not quite the same scenario as what actually happened, but you still saw everything. You saw me back there! I lost all control of my senses in that one instant! Could you imagine what it would be like if I did something like that, to you?!"

Nick's voice sounded more agitated. Judy could hear the few cracks in his speech as he kept on talking.

"I've done a lot of things that I'm not proud about, and I normally just let things like petty insults bounce off like they're nothing but I totally snapped! If I had done that to you and there was nobody else around then I know I would have done something I would never forgive myself for the rest of my life." Nick's ears dipped and his head lowered, his voice hushed itself almost to a whisper "how can you just sit there knowing that one day it could happen and it will all be over?"

Some more time passed in nothing but silence between the two partners. Though Nick perked up when he felt something small and soft grabbing his left hand. He turned his head and saw Judy's tender, soft hands grabbing his own hand. He followed her arm up until his eyes finally saw Judy's sweet smile.

"Nick, I had no idea you foxes could be so dramatic."

The red fox blinked as if he had been slapped in the face. Needless to say, that wasn't the response he was expecting.

"C-come again?" he stuttered in disbelief.

"You silly fox, you can't tell me you forgot? We've already been through this."

"But that doesn't mean the threat isn't there anymore." Nick said sounding confused and a little bit upset. He shook his head and pulled his hand away from Judy's, "let me just ask this straight out- are you afraid of me?"

"Nick." Judy frowned and furrowed her brow in concern

"I'm serious, Judy. Are you still actually afraid of me?"

"I'm not-"

"Come on, just look at me and really tell me if you're still afraid of me!" Nick's tone was raising and sounding angrier, though Judy wasn't going to be intimidated by it.

"Nick, I'm not afraid of you!" the bunny said firmly.

Nick then unexpectedly pounced on his partner on top of the mattress. Judy gasped in surprise from the sudden charge and could do nothing as the fox held her by her arms, growled deeply while baring his teeth and looked at his intense glare. However Nick's grip loosened and his aggressive expression vanish and now had a look that was a mix of terror and regret.

"Judy, I just- I can't" though before he could say anything he was stopped by Judy who gently grabbed his snout with her hands.

"Nick" the bunny said in a soft tone, "like I said, I think I understand everything."

The red fox sat back on the bed and saw his partner stand up on the mattress so they would be at face level to each other.

"What happened back there was just your trauma coming back to haunt you." Judy said matter-of-factly, "when I was told about the details everything suddenly clicked. I remembered when you told me all about what happened when you were a kid." She looked away from Nick and had an anguished look on her face and had a hint of guilt in her tone "I would know better than anyone how something like that can really hurt someone you love."

"Judy?" Nick asked, surprised.

"Hey, I didn't stutter." The grey small grey bunny said with a bashful smile on her face and started speaking in a kinder tone "it's something I felt more and more ever since we reunited and started working together."

"I felt really proud of you when you became the first fox officer in Zootopia's history. I loved working with you on each and every single assignment we've had together. I love spending time with you outside the station, whether it's hanging out at my apartment or you showing me even more places in Zootopia that I never knew even existed. I grew to love you, Nick."

The red fox could feel his cheeks warming up, and if it wasn't for his fur already being a reddish hue it would just glow right through.

"Carrots" Nick shook his head, "I-I mean, Judy, is that really true?"

"You're not going to stop asking that until I prove it to you, are you?" Judy remarked with a smirk on her face and cocking one of her brows.

Nick flashed a goofy grin which quickly turned into a look of surprise as his smaller partner grabbed his face, closed her eyes then leaned forward to plant her lips on Nick's own. The fox's ears perked up, his eyes widened from the feeling of her gentle lips against his own. Though the kiss was just a small dry peck once Judy pulled back the blush on her face was much more visible, and she big violet eyes were struggling to look at her partner in the face.

"T-there, that should do it." Judy uttered quickly while her ears slowly wilted behind her head. Though Nick still felt stunned by the kiss he finally spoke up.

"I'm not entirely convinced." He said trying to regain his composure and regular cool and collected demeanor.

"Not convinced?" Judy repeated, though soon the words sank into her and her lips slowly curled into a sly smile, "not convinced, huh~?"

"I'm just saying it took a lot of guts to admit the truth we went through this last time, so I think it's only fair for you to show if you really love me."

Now THAT was the Nick she knew and loved, though she saw the look on his face wasn't his usual smug smile but a much more genuine, tender smile, and his green eyes were now gleaming with happiness.

"When you put it that way, I do have to try my hardest to convince you." Judy leaned forward and tilted her head to one side and kissed her taller partner again.

This kiss was different- the two mammals closed their and opened their mouths slightly to allow their mouths to easily slide into each other. Judy's tender smaller paws gently brushed the fur on Nick's jaw. The red fox wrapped his arms around his bunny partner to pull her closer to him and deepen their kiss. Their first kiss only lasted a couple of seconds and was fairly awkward, this kiss was longer, more confident and passionate.

After about a minute (though it certainly felt longer than that) the two mammals collapsed on the mattress. Nick fell back on the pillow with Judy right on top of his chest, and the impact broke them out of their kiss. The two mammals panted gently while keeping their flushed faces staring at the other.

"You" Nick panted, "you make a convincing argument."

Once the two stopped panting they smiled and caressed each other. Judy nuzzled Nick's face while he held her in his warm embrace, his arms around her back while her own folded around his nick.

"Convinced that I love you, you dumb fox?"

"More than enough, you sly bunny." He said with a smirk. Nick exhaled happily as he continued to cuddle with his partner.

"Thank you, Judy. Thank you for everything."

"I'll always be by your side, Nick." Judy said in a loving tone, turning her head to face the red fox "We're in this together."

"And I wouldn't want it any other way." Nick replied then turned his head so he could give the bunny another soft kiss.

"I love you, Nick."

"I love you, Judy, and I always will."

* * *

 **Addendum:** Wasn't that something special? I wasn't going to let Nick suffer through heartache forever. ;D Although this isn't quite the end. I do ask you guys to be patient because this next chapter will be a doozy. By far the longest chapter yet, and it WILL cause another rating change. Yeah, enjoy that "T" rating while it lasts, because things are going to change. Oooh boy, are they ever.

But until then, I'll see you all next time! :D


	6. Carrots and Blueberries

**DISCLAIMER:** The rights to Zootopia and its characters belong Disney, and any other company associated with the movie. This was not made for profit, simply out of sheer love and joy I have for this wonderful movie and its insanely lovable characters.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I'm happy you guys were satisfied with how the last chapter ended. I too was pretty pleased, and really happy with how it turned out- one of my favorite chapters to write, so far.

\- Alright guys, here it is- the longest chapter in the fanfic. This one is quite easily the longest one, being over ten thousand (!) words long! You could almost say this new chapter is extra THCIK (Not sorry- I'm digging the shit out of the new season of Samurai Jack)! But I do think this one was quite an experience to write for, and it should be a good one to read as well!

\- I WAS happy about _Zootopia_ winning for "Best Animated Feature" at the Oscars a month ago. I had a feeling it would, but I'm still really happy about it.

\- Since this fanfic is coming to an end, and I don't think I'll write a new fanfic in the nearby future, the reason for it is that I'm working on my own original project, a comic that stars anthropomorphic animals and it involves time-traveling. It's called " ** _Timeless_** " and if you're curious about it, here's a link to a teaser poster on my DeviantART page so you can read a little bit more about it, and if you're interested in the project, you could stick around for more updates- they'll be coming regularly, and I think it will be really great! Here's the link: gallery/37683650/Timeless

\- On one final note, yup. It finally happened, the rating's " **M** " and, not to brag or anything, but I think I found a great way to make this work. But I'll let my writing do the talking. So, enjoy the penultimate chapter of " _By Your Side_ "! ;D

* * *

 _[ **CHAPTER 6: CARROTS AND BLUEBERRIES** ]_

Judy and Nick were laying on the mattress, one arm around the other, gazing at the moon and stars through the window of the warehouse. Despite being an old building full of nothing but rusting junk it was surprisingly peaceful, though it didn't take long for the curious bunny to break the silence and start asking questions.

"So, Nick?" She tilted her head up to her boyfriend's, who was staring out the window until Judy caught his attention.

"Hmm? What's up, Judes?" the red fox asked in a serene tone.

"Would you mind telling me what this place is, or why on earth is there a bed in here?" she cocked an eyebrow, which her partner returned with a smirk. He pushed himself up so he was sitting on the mattress then waved his right hand around for Judy to follow.

"Do you see all of this, Carrots? All of this old junk?"

"Kinda hard to miss." Judy remarked, grinning, then continued to look around the warehouse, "but what's all this for? This all from some old amusement park?"

"You're right about that. All of this stuff came from an old amusement park, but not just any- it was the famous Safari Zone! Simply put, the absolute best thing about anyone's childhood in Zootopia."

"I still remember the first time I ever came to this place, I had just turned eight, and my mom was driving me out to somewhere, and at the time I thought it was just going Old Pierro's Pizza Party Parlor- 'cuz that's where we went every single year and- don't get me wrong, I loved that place, their pizza is still untouchable!" he wagged his finger and Judy giggled in response. The bunny was enjoying seeing how lit up with joy Nick was from retelling his memories to her.

"Anyway, mom makes a right turn and I asked her where we were going. All she said was 'you'll see, sweetheart'. We drove through this tunnel that was made of nothing but tree branches that arched over the road then, before we knew it, we were right at the Safari Zone! I couldn't believe it! She gave me the entrance ticket, told me 'happy birthday', and let me go to have the time of my life!" the fox jumped out of the bed towards the piles of scrapped park rides.

"They're still here- the Bump n' Crash bumper cars, the Roarin' Rapids rubber rafts, and the Tornado Alley- the biggest rollercoaster ever! It was both the most intimidating and coolest thing I ever saw as a kid, and you could not imagine my excitement when I ran to ride it" he stopped pacing and exhaled, now sounding far less enthusiastic than he did, "but I never did."

"What happened?" Judy asked as she sat up on the edge of the bed. Nick shook his head as he turned around to face the bunny.

"Just wasn't tall enough." Nick replied, "but I wasn't going to let that stop me from ever going there one day. "

The fox sighed as he slowly strolled towards the bed and sat on the edge, next to Judy, "I had an absolute blast, even if I didn't get to ride on everything, so it was still a very happy day for me. A few days later I got the uniform to be part of the Junior Scouts and thought that things could only go up from here" he paused and released a sigh, then looked back at Judy "and you already know how that story ends."

Judy saw the crestfallen expression on Nick's face, then gently laid her hand on top of Nick's to comfort him. Nick glanced at their hands and at Judy's face then gave her a small smile.

"Alright, truth be told, that's not where it all ends. The story continues after that night, but only if you'd like to hear it."

"If it's not any problem for you, I wouldn't mind." Judy returned the smile, which made Nick broaden his. He nodded and jumped out of the bed again.

"About a day or two later I decided to run away." Nick continued as he walked around the bed to face the window, "Zootopia didn't give me a very warm welcoming but I ended up running into someone who helped me out while I ran around trying to figure out what to do."

"Finnick?" Judy asked while looking back at the fox, who nodded.

"That's right. Fin was surprisingly kind to me that day, though I found out that he too ran away from home when he was really young. So we stuck together for a few weeks until we both saw one of those 'missing animal' posters which had me in there."

"So you're telling me the one who sent out those posters…?" Judy's voice trailed as she asked her partner, who nodded in response before she could finish her question.

"She did. I couldn't help but feel guilty about leaving her like that so, with Fin's help, we went all the way back to her home. She was a total wreck and I still remember everything about that day- how she broke down in tears when she saw me again- messy clothes, bloodshot eyes, bedraggled fur- and the most heartbreaking part of all is that she never once got angry at me. She was just happy to see me again."

There was a brief silence before Nick spoke up, "And then I told her that I wanted to leave. She looked like as if she had been smacked right across the face and didn't want to believe it, but I told her that I really wanted to go because I couldn't stand feeling like I had wasted all of that pain that my mom went through to make me happy. She let me go and I didn't look back. Mom wasn't happy, but she could tell that I really wanted to go through with this."

"From there I lived with Finnick for many years. He taught me pretty much everything I know, and thanks to him I became the pawpsicle hustler you met me as."

"Nick." Judy said, concerned. She jumped off the bed and saw Nick glance back at her, though he calmed her worries by giving her an assuring, small smile.

"It's fine, Carrots. That's all in the past now." The red fox said with a small shrug. He sauntered back to the bunny and sat back on the edge of the bed, "I've been through a lot. Thanks to Finnick I toughened up and grew the shell of dry sarcasm that I proudly wear today! Though, you did help me touch that part of me that was much closer to being that eager little bugger of a cub that I used to be. Your optimism is something that should really be admired more."

Judy smiled and grabbed her partner's hand as she sat back on the bed.

"Wow, Nick. I really don't know what to say. Though I'm sure you have a lot to tell me from all that time you've spent out in the big city as just a cub!"

"Maybe one of these days I can tell you in more detail."

"Though I'm not sure what all of that has to do with this warehouse." Judy cocked an eyebrow while Nick chuckled lightly.

"Well, we had to live somewhere, didn't we? For some time we lived inside this old apartment building that was just outside Sahara Square. We lived there for a good couple of years until it got completely demolished. We were out of a home until I remembered the one other place in Zootopia we could go- the Safari Zone, though when we got there we discovered that the park was getting torn down. I remember that it was because the park was just too old and it wasn't getting the profits that it once did. Other bigger, better parks were being built all over the city and that was the end of that." Nick's ears dipped back, "it's such a strange feeling seeing something that left such an impact on you as a child just be completely wiped out of existence. I remember how much I loved the place for that one day that I went and now it's gone. I never got to fulfill my promise." his voice trailed off, though it quickly perked up again.

"At least that's what I thought! Just by pure luck I happened to find this place- the warehouse where the remains of the Safari Zone remained. It was one of the most surreal feelings I ever felt in my life. It's almost as if I'm digging through the casket of a dead relative. Then it came to me: my ultimate plan. I told Finnick about my idea for what could be the best scheme ever- to build an amusement park of our own, though to build one that was more predator-friendly. It was going to be called Wild Times, both Finnick and I were really excited for the idea. We spent days and nights inside of this place thinking of what attractions we were going to make out of all of this stuff. Hell, I even remember one night we actually tried the old bumper cars to see if they worked- oh, they do. And now you know where that big dent on the wall over there came from."

Judy snorted a laugh, "what I would give to see that. But I'm guessing the plan never fell through?"

Nick shook his head and sighed, "it was too big of a project for just the two of us. Maybe it could have been the kind of thing that could have really become big if we found a way to sell it. It was just not worth the effort because we couldn't really put it together. Pawpsicles were simple, easy, quick to make, and we could make good money out of it in just a couple of weeks."

"So, you got lazy?" Judy joked in a playful tone, which earned her a good shove from her partner, which knocked her back down to the mattress.

"I'm a lot of things, but lazy isn't one of them, Fluff." The fox remarked while proudly adjusting his tie, "besides, if we did go through with building Wild Times, then maybe life could have turned out a whole lot differently. Maybe I could be really rich right now, you may not have become a cop-"

"And" Judy cut in while reaching her hand out to grab Nick's tie, "I wouldn't be here to do this." She yanked on the tie and forced the red fox to fall right on top of her.

Nick groaned as he lifted himself from top of his partner, who giggled from her little stunt while he half-cocked a smirk.

"Y-you say that like it would have been such a bad thing." He remarked.

"Oh please, you know you love me." Judy said as her lips curled up into a sly grin.

"Do I?" Nick asked in a disinterested tone before replying, "Yes, yes I do."

"Alright. Prove it~"

The fox closed his eyes and neared his face to the bunny's. He planted his lips on hers for a gentle kiss. Nick drew his face back for a quick breath then crashed his lips on his partner's again, this time with a little more force and with his jaw hinged slightly open to allow Judy's tongue access to his own. The red fox slid his hands beneath the bunny's firm back while she used her smaller, daintier paws to cup his warm cheeks. She tilted her head to the side to allow Nick's tongue to slip into her mouth. Judy's eyes popped open and she released a small yelp from Nick's bigger tongue dancing around her miniscule muscle. Her partner couldn't hear the yelp as it was muffled by both of their mouths, including the louder moans that were coming from the predator's maw.

Judy was relishing in the feeling of their tongues twirling around and filling the inside of each other's cheeks. The sensation was a little much for the smaller mammal as she gagged from feeling his tongue too far into her mouth and past her tongue. The fox felt his partner retch; he rolled on the mattress so the bunny was on top of him. This would be easier on Judy having to deal with much less weight on her smaller frame, and helped her enjoy their making out a lot more. Nick could now hear Judy's moans of pleasure from their hungry mouths tasting each other for what seemed to be hours. As much as they didn't want to, the passionate kissing had to come to an end as the partners pulled away from each other and took harsh breaths of air. The couple panted as they kept on catching their breath and neither one looked at the other- Nick was staring up at the ceiling while Judy was staring down at her knees as she was kneeling on her larger partner's pelvis. The fox couldn't ignore the feeling of her partner's weight right on top of his lower body. He licked his lips- which were lined by the saliva from both of their mouths- then tilted his head down to get a better look at the bunny, who was blushing so hard he could have sworn he could actually see the faint red glow burning through the fur on her cheeks.

"Is everything okay, Carrots?" the red fox asked in a hushed tone while his smaller partner only replied with a small shake of her head.

"No, Nick." Judy replied in a low, impassive voice.

Nick worried, though his doubts went away once she looked up at his face. He could see those big lilac eyes of hers gleaming as her gaze was fixed on his own emerald green eyes.

"Everything is better than okay." She exhaled, "that was just breathtaking."

"That's one way to put it." He remarked, though there wasn't any witty edge to the tone of his voice as he was still trying to recollect his thoughts from their kissing.

"Judy? Do you mind if I ask you something?"

The flustered bunny shook her head as she was now ogling the fox's chest.

"Do you-?" he stopped himself as he was trying to think of the right words to say, "do you feel it?"

"You, um" she replied in a small voice, "could you be a little bit more specific on what you're asking? Because I'm feeling a lot of things."

Nick shook his head and released a small sigh, "I'm not going to beat around the bush here, but I don't want you to take this in any wrong way, because I have not felt this kind of thing with anyone."

Judy's eyes looked back at the fox's face. He seemed nervous, which was not helped by the look on Judy's own face being hard for him to read.

"Do you feel aroused?" he asked.

There was a silence between the both of them. Judy once again diverted her eyes to stare at her knees, though she finally gave her partner an answer with a small nod.

"I have gotta admit Nick, this is both one of the most exciting and nerve-racking situations I've been in my entire life."

"I'm guessing someone still hasn't gotten their cherry popped yet?" the fox asked in a tone that was much more like his usual self. As much as Judy wanted to return to his answer with a pout she sighed in defeat and nodded again.

"You caught me red-handed, Slick. Never got my V card revoked." She replied in a more upbeat tone that was also more in line with her usual self as she was trying to rid herself of her nerves.

"Listen Judy, I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do. I mean," his lips curled into a sheepish grin while slipped his left hand behind his head, "I think I've already made my own case, so there's no real need to go any further." he chuckled lightly to ease the tension, though this was met with another brief period of silence.

"To tell you the truth, I actually want more." Judy replied matter-of-factly, "But I just don't know where to begin."

Nick felt the fur on the back of his neck raise on end and felt a shiver travel down his spine. In his own mind he was trying to do everything to not panic like an idiot. This isn't the first time he's been through this song and dance but it was the first time he was going through this with _her_. He wasn't sure if Judy could even smell how uneasy he felt but the fact that even she seemed lost as to what to do made him feel more at ease. That's when it hit him.

"Hey, I have an idea." Nick said in a soft voice and gave her a friendly smile, "you really enjoyed when we were making out, right?"

Judy bit her lower lip from the question and had a bashful look on her face, but nodded to her partner in assurance.

"What if we keep doing it? It would help the both of us feel less nervous about all of this."

"I would love it more than anything, Nick." Judy said in a giddy tone of voice.

Nick put his right hand on Judy's cheek and gently tugged her face closer to his to share another soft kiss. They didn't want to get too agitated so they both slowly closed their eyes and ever so lightly opened their mouths. While they were starting to wrestle with their tongues both partners moved their hands to the other's chest. Judy's dainty bunny hands hovered over the predator's torso until her palms landed on top of his chest. She could feel his ribcage expanding and contracting from his smooth breathing though she could also feel his heartbeat, which was beating really fast. Judy couldn't help but really love knowing that she was the one who was driving him crazy like this.

Judy brought her hands to the knot on his tie and started to loosen it. She slowly pulled the tongue out of the loop until it became undone. With her left hand she gently pulled the loose tie from his collar and discarded it on the mattress. She felt Nick sit up against the headboard of the bed and pulled her closer with his hand so they could deepen their kiss. The bunny was now standing on her partner's lap while they continued their passionate deep kissing. Her hands moved to the fox's clavicle and took hold of the top button of his shirt. She pushed the button out of the hole and away from the placket, exposing some more of Nick's chest. One by one she repeated this with all of the buttons until both halves of the shirt were preyed apart by the needy bunny's fluttery hands.

Nick dipped his hands down the sides of Judy's smaller frame. His palms travelled from her armpits all the way to her shapely hips. His hands travelled around the hem of the belt until they met at the buckle. The red fox pulled the tongue away from the belt loop and out of the buckle, making it easy for him to pull the belt ditch the belt in one swift pull. He moved on to her pants and began to unbutton and unzip them at the same time that his loose shirt was being pried away from his shoulders. His partner was pulling his shirt away from his shoulders but didn't get very far as his outstretched arms were getting in the way of the bunny removing his shirt.

"Uhh, do you mind if-?" Judy began to ask as she broke away from the kiss, though without even needing to finish her question Nick already knew what she was going to ask.

"Can do, Carrots. Just give me one second." The predator replied as he pulled his partner's pants down to her ankles. She stepped her large bunny feet out of the legs of her pants and kicked them off the side of the bed.

"That help?" she asked as she put her hands on her panty-clad hips.

"It helps a lot." Nick said as he stared at the plain blue panties that were covering his partner's crotch.

"You know, we're not going to get anywhere fast if you just keep on staring like that." She joked at her partner while noticing that his shirt was still hanging on by his elbows.

"Wha- well, what's the rush here?" the red fox as he let his shirt slip out of his arms and flung it off the bed then paused, "Wait a second."

Judy cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms across her chest, "something wrong?"

Nick jerked his thumb in the direction of the large warehouse doors and asked,"Don't tell me- has Clawhauser been standing outside this whole time?"

Judy brought her hand to cover her mouth to hide her stifled laugh, though failing as she burst out laughing from her partner's presumption. Nick furrowed his brow in confusion, dipped his ears back and shook his head.

"Oh Nick, of course not! He's been gone for a while!" the bunny said as she sat on the shirtless fox's lap once again.

"Is that true? 'Cause I didn't hear a siren." He folded his arms across his chest and pouted while Judy's laughter turned into a small fit of giggles.

"I saw him drive off. I told him that I wanted to deal with you by myself because I had a feeling that maybe I could be the one to get through to you."

"Guess you made the right call, Fluffbutt." Nick remarked as his frown softened into a smile and raised a sly eyebrow at the smaller mammal.

"The only other animals I could think of that could get you out of this that came to mind were Finnick, and your mom. Finnick I figured wouldn't be of much use in a situation like this. Your mom could be, but if she was then things here would be a little awkward, now wouldn't they?" she had a sly look on her face while Nick's eyes nearly bugged out from shock.

"You are one sick bunny, you know that right?" the fox asked in a deadpan tone.

"I didn't mean anything by that, you're the one that thought it up." She said feigning an innocent tone of voice.

"I resent that statement, first of all. Second of all, this is coming from the bumpkin with the 278 siblings?"

"279, first of all." Judy said in a smug tone as she wagged her finger in front of his face, "Second of all, you still thought about it first!"

Suddenly, Nick grabbed Judy by her shoulders and yanked her close to him so their faces were pressed against each other.

"I don't think you want to say another word, you tasty little bunny." The fox said as he licked his lips, though Judy wasn't going to be intimidated by the predator's ravenous tone and had a determined look on her face.

"Oh, I ain't scared of you, you lumbering, flea-bitten, toned-" although Judy's brave speech was cut short by her feeling something on her body. Nick dropped the act of trying to be scary and seemed concerned when his partner suddenly stopped talking.

"W-wha, Judy, is something wrong?" he asked as he loosened his grip on the bunny's shoulders, "I wasn't too rough, was I? I was just acting-!"

"Nononono, it wasn't that." the bunny said quickly to ease her partner's worries, "It was… uuhhhh." She hesitated to explain out of sheer embarrassment. She squatted until she saw Nick's eyes widen in surprise.

The two mammals glanced down and saw Judy's crotch pressing up against the bulge in Nick's tan pants.

"Well. Whaddaya know?" the red fox said in a small voice as he stared at his own erection pressing up against the bunny's panties.

"Uh, Nick?" Judy looked up at her partner's eyes, "please tell me that didn't show up while we were talking about your m-"

"I DON'T GET TURNED ON BY MOM, OH MY GOD!" Nick exclaimed loudly then buried his face in his padded palms to hide his humiliation.

"H-hey, Slick! Easy there, I was kidding!" Judy said in a more comforting tone as she pried Nick's hands away from his face. His embarrassment went away as he admired Judy's purple orbs, at least until they began darting around until they focused on his crotch again.

"So, I did that, huh?" Judy asked in a soft voice.

"Y-yeah. Don't get any crazy ideas, though. You were right that this isn't my first rodeo, so not first chub I've had either."

"Funny, because if that were true I'd think you would be a little bit more proactive about this." Judy said in a slightly teasing tone. Nick was taken back by the remark though he managed to reform back to his usual cool and collected self.

"It's not that I don't know my way around a pair of panties when I see them." He said, then rubbed the back of his head with his right hand, "it's just that it's been a while since I've been in the sack like this. Also, you're not like any of the others I've been with."

He placed his hands on Judy's burning cheeks so they could stare at each other face-to-face, "You mean to me more than anyone else in the world." His smiled disappeared and his ears dipped back, "I'm just scared of screwing this up, especially if it's going to be your first time. If we're really going to do this I want to get it right. I want it to be a night for you- for us to remember."

Judy's lips curled into a sweet smile. She placed her own hands on the fox's hands and pulled them away from her cheeks, then sliding them into his larger palms. He lifted his head and focused on the smaller mammal's face.

"Nick, that is one of the sweetest things I've heard. Though to tell you the truth it'd be probably be hard for me to tell what would make us having sex so special." She quickly flashed a cheeky smile at her partner, "it's not that I don't want to, but it's not what is going to make this night special- it already IS special, are you kidding me?! From the moment I saw you and Finnick messing with each other, to all of that fun we had at the arcade, to getting you to open up in a way I didn't think I could!" Nick's ears perked up from Judy's excitement.

"If this final moment of the night between us doesn't end up perfectly, so what?! This will still be the most amazing night of my life because I got to spend it with the one mammal that I would go to the end of the world with!"

The predator smiled, completely overwhelmed with joy from the words of her amazing partner.

"J-Judy, thank you." He said in a soft voice.

The bunny shook her head and gave her partner a soft peck on his lips, "I couldn't thank you enough for this, Nick."

The red fox exhaled then nodded his head. He had a serious determined look on his face "however, you're still not going to stop me. I will still do my best to end this night on a high note! Are you up to the challenge, Officer Hopps?"

Judy saluted to the taller mammal, in her own serious tone of voice as if she was addressing her boss, "I can handle anything you throw at me, Officer Wilde!"

The two stared at each other in silence for a couple of seconds before they broke into a fit of snickers and snorts. Judy collapsed on top of the fox from the snicker outbursts, which were now muffled as she planted her face right on his soft, fluffy chest.

"You really are a special one, alright." Nick said as he wiped away the tears of laughter from his eyes, though Judy didn't respond, at least not how he thought she would. He saw the bunny rubbing her head against his fur and could feel the little hums she was emitting reverberating on his chest.

"I'm sorry, Nick." Judy said in a sweet tone as she looked up at the fox's bewildered face, "I just reeeeaaally love how soft and warm your fur feels. It smells really nice, too!"

The predator gulped nervously and as his cheeks started to burn up again, "R-really? It's nothing, I just- wait! I just realized something. Did you say I was 'toned'?" he saw Judy nod.

"That wasn't just acting, Slick~" Judy cooed as she kept enjoying the feeling of the fox's pecs on her face while her fingers were lightly tracing his abdomen. Nick was enjoying the feeling of her soft fingertips brushing against his torso which only made the erection in his trousers tense up even more. Judy noticed it.

"You know, I don't think removing one article of clothing is enough." Judy said in a matter-of-fact tone, though her half-lidded eyes and impish smile told Nick that she was up to no good, "so let me give you a hand here, Slick!"

Nick saw Judy crawl down his legs so she could more comfortably remove his pants. One quick unbuttoning and unzipping and the bunny was already pulling the trousers away from his legs and feet. She lightly tossed the slacks over the edge of the bed, right on top of her own pair; when she turned back she gasped in surprise at the sight of the tent in her partner's boxers. The red fox had bashful grin on his as he noticed where Judy's eyes were focused on.

"C'mon, i-it's not a big deal." He casually shrugged his shoulders, though he noticed the bunny shaking her head while still being in stunned silence.

"Uh. Poor choice of words?" he asked. Judy nodded.

"I, uh, guess I shouldn't be _too_ surprised." The bunny admitted with a light chuckle as she diverted her gaze away from her partner's impressive package, "You are pretty much almost twice my size, after all. Though with that said…" she then whistled as her focus went back to his crotch.

"Weren't you the one that said that staring would get us nowhere?" Nick asked as he perked an eyebrow. Judy waved her hand dismissively at her partner's sarcastic tone.

"Oh come on, this is totally different!" the grey-furred mammal exclaimed, "I knew you were going to have something impressive-!" she quickly covered her mouth from realizing what she said while Nick was astonished by what he heard.

"You thought about my c-?"

"That's not what I meant!" Judy quickly snapped, "I-I-I meant that in the sense that since you're a much larger animal that your," she snapped her fingers trying to think of the right word while she also trying to not look stupid, "equipment would be bigger compared to the animals" her voice trailed off as she saw that smug look on the fox's face- the one that was simultaneously punchable yet always managed to make her melt, "in my own spec- OKAY! Holy fuck, you're hung! There! I said it!"

"I didn't think I'd see the day I'd ever hear Judy Hopps say 'fuck', let alone having it be preceded by 'holy'." The red fox remarked in his complacent tone, "NOW the night is complete!"

Judy puffed her cheeks in protest from Nick's crack at her expense, though she sighed and lowered her ears, "Guess I had that one comin', eh?"

"Nothin' to be ashamed about, Carrots. I had to beat you at something, for once." The fox replied. He then tapped his chin with his finger and perked up and eyebrow, "you know, I'm curious."

"About?"

"What you wear under your shirts."

"Excuse me?" she cocked an eyebrow at his response.

"Hey, if you're going to fantasize about my junk, I'm free to wonder if you wear any garments around your chest. I've just" he scratched the back of his neck, "always been curious is all."

Judy stared at her partner for a couple of seconds then closed her eyes and raised her arms in the air. Nothing happened until Judy cleared her throat, which indicated Nick that was his cue. He knelt in front of the bunny as he lifted the blue t-shirt over hear head and arms. He threw the shirt on the ground, right next to his Hawaiian green shirt and turned his attention back to Judy's chest. He couldn't help but stare at the reveal that Judy was wearing a light blue bra right underneath her blouse.

"Huh." Nick uttered under his breath as he stared at the bra, then saw Judy lower her arms.

"It's not something I really need, but I feel pretty comfortable with it." Judy explained to her partner.

"It's fine. It's really" the fox said defensively though his tone trailed off as he gazed at his partner's curvy frame, "really, really fine. Just perfect, actually."

"Niiiick, you're doing it again." The bunny called to Nick, making him snap out of his trance.

"Sorry about that, Carrots. I just really love your entire body, it's beautiful."

Judy was blushing again, so much that it was noticeable, "Nick, you're going to make me look like a tomato."

"But, I mean it! You are just spectacular, Judy Hopps." The red fox replied as he gently held the bunny by her shoulders, "everything about you is what I've always dreamed about. It would be an honor to see all of that beauty completely exposed."

Judy's ears lowered and drooped behind her head while her arms, almost instinctively, folded around the predator's neck.

"You're a really handsome fox, Nick Wilde. I too, would love to see all of your beauty exposed to me."

"Hmm" Nick hummed as he lightly rocked his head from side to side, "it sounds better when I say it."

"Shut up!" Judy exclaimed while giving the fox's shoulder a playful punch. She returned her hand around the fox's neck and her eyes were locked on his.

Both mammals closed their eyes, turned their heads and drew closer to each other and kissed. Judy started running her hands over Nick's firm neck, brushing the soft red fur between her fingers while pushing his head forward for a deeper kiss. Nick moved his padded hands from Judy's silky shoulders to her smooth backside. His fingers fumbled upon meeting with the hook of her bra; they took hold of the latch and pulled apart the straps, letting the garment dangle free around her shoulders. The bunny momentarily released her hold on her partner's neck and lowered her arms so the bra slid right off.

Judy cupped Nick's chin in her hand then dragged his face back to hers so they could return to their make out session. Her hands now rested on the fox's chest, though they slowly traveled lower down his abdomen until they met with the waistband of his boxers. Her left hand moved even lower, lightly gliding over the fox's tent. Her palm landed gently on Nick's erection which made him release a louder moan into her mouth. He pulled back from the kiss and huffed.

"E-easy, Carrots." The red fox said between huffs.

"Is it really sensitive?" Judy asked softly, to which Nick responded with a nod.

"It's been like this for the past couple of nights." He chuckled in embarrassment, "guess it just wanted some attention."

Judy chuckled awkwardly at the statement until she focused on his bulge. She bit her lower lip from seeing some of the throbbing red muscle exposed from the open fly on his boxers.

"Well then. I think it's time to give it the attention it needs, isn't it?" Judy asked. Nick was surprised by the bold question but didn't respond; instead he just let Judy slide her thumb the waistband on his boxers, closed her eyes, and pulled the shorts down. She felt the boxers get caught by something but didn't open her eyes and with one quick tug she yanked the shorts away from the fox and flung them over the bed. She opened her eyes and tried to keep her surprise when she saw her partner's exposed muscle, though she couldn't help but stare. Aside from its good 9-inch length, it was oddly shaped; the tip was curved and had what she could only describe as an extra set of balls at the base of the shaft.

"Don't, uh, mind too much." Nick uttered under his breath, "it's supposed to be like that."

"This may be a little harder than I thought." Judy admitted as she was kneeling in front of her partner.

"Poor choice of words?" Nick asked with in a light teasing tone, which got a small chuckle out of Judy.

"Just a bit." she did appreciate Nick poking fun at their situation, it helped make it all the less awkward and stressful, at least until she caught the fox staring at her chest, "I feel like you're eating me with your eyes." She remarked.

"You're not making this any fun for me." The fox remarked dryly.

"I think you're done staring." The bunny said, grabbing her partner's dark red hands placing the palms over her chest, "I think it's finally time you started doing."

Nick froze for a moment from feeling the silky fur on her partner's flat torso. His hands were big enough to cover her chest, though a small clump of fur managed to poke out from between his hands, though that wasn't what kept him from doing anything. On his left hand he could feel the feeling of her heart beating, and beating fast.

"I guess I really got your motor running." Nick said with an awkward chuckle. Judy nodded and bit her lower lip, lightly hissing from the feeling of her partner's paws brushing against her bosom. This gave Nick an idea.

"You don't mind if I try something?" he asked.

"No, not at all. I'm all yours, Slick." She said in a soft tone, though there was a hint of excitement in her voice.

Nick gave an assuring smile then closed her eyes and dipped his face lower for another kiss on the bunny's tender lips. He pulled back and planted his kisses on her fluffy cheek. Judy opened one eye, unsure of what the fox was thinking, at least until he moved his face even lower down her body and began to kiss her neck. This made the smaller mammal exhale soft moans of bliss. The cries gave Nick the confirmation that she was enjoying her neck getting kissed, and so he opened his mouth and gave her neck a gentle nip with his sharp teeth. Judy's eyes popped open and she jolted from the sensation, causing Nick to quickly retract his head.

"Whoa! Was that too much, Judy?" Nick asked stammering, feeling completely uneasy.

"Nick! Nick, it's fine." She said in a softening tone and patted her partner's snout, "I just never felt that before. It's just new." her ears drooped and she tapped her cheek with her finger, "well, that's not entirely true. There was that one time at the museum."

Nick scoffed, "that was just an act!"

"It still felt funny back then, too." she brushed her ears with one of her hands while she stared at her knees, "but I do like it. Could you do that again? Without stopping, please?"

Nick smiled and nodded, "Alright, I'll continue and not stop, but on one condition."

Judy's ears perked up and tilted her head out of curiosity.

"If I do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or in any kind of pain just yell the signal word and I'll stop, no questions asked."

"Signal word?" Judy repeated, blushing at the thought, "I don't know if we'd do anything really extreme or something like that."

"A friend of mine once told me that it's nice to be prepared for anything."

Judy smiled then arched an eyebrow, "Alright, I'll play. What's the signal word?"

"Blueberries."

"Blueberries?" Judy repeated.

"Alright, guess I'll stop now." Nick said, holding his hands in the air, which earned him another punch on the shoulder from Judy, "hey, easy on the shoulder! I bruise like an apple."

"Come on, get on with it!" Judy demanded, feigning being impatient.

"As you wish, officer." Nick said with a soft growl as he gently pushed Judy down on the mattress.

Nick's paws were lightly pressing against Judy's chest while his snout went back to nibbling her neck. The feeling of his canine teeth pressing and grinding against her flesh was making the bunny squirm. She struggled to keep herself from wailing by mashing her teeth together, though her groans still managed to escape through her teeth from the thrill of feeling nibbled by a predator.

The fox's paws were busy at work as his mouth was. They cupped and rubbed around his partner's smooth bosom until he dragged his padded fingertips across her smooth, light grey-colored belly. His thumbs circled around her bellybutton while the rest of his fingers curved around her sides to hold her hips. Once Nick's kisses and love bites moved lower from Judy's neck to her collarbone his hands glided lower to the one area of Judy's body still covered by clothing- her pelvis. His thumbs slipped beneath the leg openings his hands took grip of the fabric and pulled the panties away from her crotch.

Judy lost the fight against her own ecstasy and moaned loudly from Nick's tongue and teeth nipping at her neck, shoulders, and now moving onto her chest, not even feeling her panties being pulled right out of her feet. Now both partners were completely exposed to each other though that didn't stop either one of them from acting like the predator and prey they both were.

Judy's moaning was intercut by a few a whimpers due to Nick's hands running back up her thighs until they neared her most tender area. The fox's padded thumbs brushed by her inner thighs until they were close to her sensitive fleshy pink lips, then they traveled back down her thighs again. Judy titled her head up and squinted to see what her partner was doing. She saw him crawling away from her body, his snout landing light, fluttering kisses over her smooth stomach as it finally hovered right over her muff.

Nick hesitated for a moment. He really couldn't help but admire the lovely body of his partner, though once her moaning and huffing softened up, that was his cue to proceed. He lifted his partner's legs in the air and hooked her calves around his shoulders, pressing his lips and wet nose right on the bunny's tender groin, earning him a few small gasps from his lover's mouth.

Nick laid his body flat on his stomach and held Judy's thighs with his hands while his lips delicately kissed the little pink button on top of her sweet opening. This caused Judy to wail loudly, take a tight grip on the bedsheets beneath her, and clench her legs, which now forced Nick's snout to be pressed up against her slit.

"Aaaaahhh, Niiiiiick!" Judy moaned loudly from having her partner's mouth tasting her pussy, "s-sorry, that just felt really- AHH?!" she cried out as she felt her partner's tongue lapping over her entrance.

Nick was focused on making his bunny enjoy him eating her out as much as possible, and he was succeeding at it. His tongue circled her puffy labia before landing right into her slit. He opened his mouth more to allow more of his tongue to slide deeper into her warm tunnel. He slid his hands and cupped her soft buttocks, then lifted them slightly to make it more comfortable for Nick to open his maw around her crotch. Judy arched her back, tightened her grip on the bedsheets even further, and curled her toes from the euphoria rushing through her body as her handsome partner had his tongue digging deep into her passage. She was so close to screaming from feeling the long canine tongue swirling around her inner walls, his soft moans of delight from tasting his partner's juices were also driving her crazy thanks to his hot breath huffing against her crotch.

Nick's ears twitched when he heard Judy's moans turn to high-pitched whines. This was signal that she wasn't going to last for much longer, though much to his surprise she let him go by unhooking her legs from around his neck and collapsing back on the mattress. The bunny heavily from the tongue-ravishing she received from her hungry partner, while he too was catching his breath from spending several minutes with his snout pressed against her muff.

"Nick" she panted, as her gaze was focused on the ceiling, "that was incredible!"

"You're telling me." Nick huffed, though he wasn't panting as much as his partner, "you were getting really into it."

"Hah. Heh, I'm guessing all of those Pawpsicles must have given your tongue a lot of training." Judy joked at her partner, who responded to the remark with a light chuckle.

"But then why did you let go?" Nick asked.

Judy had recovered enough to be able to speak clearly, "I didn't want to finish already with just that. Don't we have our own main event to get to?"

Nick's ears perked up and his eyes widened from the suggestion, but after a few seconds of thought he shook his head.

"But we can't." Nick said matter-of-factly.

"What are you talking about? Of course we can!" Judy said as she sat up on the mattress. Nick frowned.

"No, we really can't." he explained in a firmer tone, "sure, we're from different species, but we don't have any protection, and that's a risk I just don't want to take." Judy rolled her eyes and shook her head, then reached over the edge of the bed to pick up Nick's shirt.

"How can you say that when you have these?" Judy asked as she reached into the pocket on the shirt and pulled out five small plastic packages. Nick's jaw dropped from seeing the condoms, "oh yeah, don't think I didn't notice these before. I saw them when we were walking out of the concert!"

"I-I didn't put those there!" Nick exclaimed, "I swear, I didn't buy any condoms, that was empty!" he then stopped talking as his brain recollected everything that happened in the concert and then something clicked, "FINNICK!"

Judy couldn't help to laugh at her partner's reaction, as well as from seeing the peach fur on his cheeks turning almost as red as the rest of his fur.

"You gotta give the guy some credit; he is looking out for you." Judy said cheekily, while Nick crossed his arms across his chest and glared at the condoms, "he gave you quite a few of them, too. I'm guessing he thought we were going to be at this for a while."

Nick's expression softened and he shrugged his shoulders, "well, condoms can break, you know? It's better to be safe than sorry." His ears perked up when Judy gave him a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"Come on, Slick. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try, now would it?" Judy asked in a sweet voice. Nick sighed and nodded, then took one of the packages from Judy's hand and ripped it open, revealing the oily, translucent rubber product.

Nick sat back against the headboard of the bed with the condom in his hand. He was about to slide it on his throbbing red muscle though his uneasy grip caused it to slip out of his fingers and fall off the bed and onto the floor.

"Agh, son of a bitch!" Nick grumbled from the rubber slipping from his hand. Judy saw this and soon an idea came to her.

"Let me try it!" Judy exclaimed as she tore open another of the packages and pulled out the condom from it. Nick gulped from the proposition, though before he could ask anything he hissed from feeling Judy's dainty hand brushing up against the side of his shaft. He saw the bunny lie on her stomach and neared her face the tip of his manhood. She gave the knob a tender kiss. The feeling of her bunny whiskers brushing against his most tender muscle sent shivers down the fox's spine.

"Judy, a-are you really going to-?" Nick was about to ask, though before he could finish his question the smaller mammal opened her mouth and slowly dragged her tongue across the head of his cock. Her tongue slipped back into her mouth and she swallowed while looking at her fox partner's face.

"It tastes funny." she said while her tongue poked out of her mouth again.

"Guh, y-you don't really have to go through with this if you don't like it." The embarrassed red fox said to his smaller partner.

"I didn't say it tasted bad." Judy said as she gazed at her partner through her half-lidded lilac eyes, "now let me return you the favor."

The bunny brushed her ears back and closed her eyes. She gave her partner's shaft a couple of gentle strokes before opening her mouth again and bobbing it around the veiny, red muscle. She groaned softly as she tried to push more of her partner's 9-inch rod past her tongue, though its girth proved to make that more challenging than she would like. Her loose hand was fondling the fox's sack, gently juggling the two shapely balls between her silky-soft finger tips. This made the predator grit his teeth and curl his toes from his equipment getting fondled and treated by his partner's delightful mouth and wonderful, soft hands.

Judy heard Nick's moans of pleasure as her signal to do more. She opened her mouth as much as she could to help her partner's cock slide even farther past her tongue and filled more of her mouth. Her ears perked up when she heard a hiss and a yelp of pain.

"Aahhh, careful! Judy! Teeth, teeth!" Nick exclaimed as Judy's buckteeth were clamping down on the skin of his rod. She tried to carefully pull herself away from his canine organ trying not to scrape or bite anymore. She pulled her head away but was agitated by the sudden yells.

"Oh my God, Nick! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" she said in complete panic while feeling her partner's manhood to make sure she didn't bite too much, "does it hurt?! I-I'm sorry for being careless! I forgot about my-!"

"Judy, Judy! It's fine." Nick panted quickly as he took hold of the bunny's shoulders, "it's fine. I'm fine, it was just a little nip. It totally slipped my mind, too." he gave his partner an assuring smile while she looked away in embarrassment.

"Don't take it so hard, Judy. I mean it, it was just a little nip, nothing too bad- I'll live. I wasn't expecting you to be perfect at this. Don't worry about it, babe."

Judy looked back at the handsome fox's face and smiled at him. "Did you really call me 'babe'?" she asked while raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well, if you're my girlfriend now I need to think of cute, flirty names to call you by now." Nick replied in a soothing voice.

"Don't you do that already, though?" the bunny asked as she sat on her boyfriend's lap.

"I'll think of even cornier names for you later." he replied, then winked at the bunny, making Judy giggle. The two mammals looked down their lower bodies and saw their loins pressing against each other. The partners looked back at each other's faces for a few moments before Judy spoke up.

"I'm ready, Nick." She said in a soft tone. She heard Nick gulp and he nodded to her.

"No turning back now." The red fox replied in a hushed tone. His eyes darted to Judy's right hand, which had the condom held between her index and middle finger.

Judy carefully pressed the rubber and placed it on the tip of her partner's cock, then slowly unfolded the plastic around his shaft until it hit the two lumps at the hilt.

"Uhh" the bunny was stumped by the sight of the obstruction, then took a look at her partner's uneasy face, "Nick, what is this?"

"That's my knot." Nick replied as he darted his eyes away from Judy's face, "that thing is meant to go deep inside of my, um, mate and it will make it impossible for me to pull out until I blow my load."

Judy couldn't help but cover her mouth from the astonishment of Nick's explanation. She looked back at her partner, whom she could feel was feeling her staring at him.

"T-the condom can fold all the way around it." Nick uttered, "This brand is sturdy enough to cover the whole thing."

The bunny bit her lower lip as she grabbed the remaining unfolded edges of the condom and wrapped it around the thick knot. It wrapped all the way around the round lumps until the condom stopped at Nick's sheath. The fox was biting his lip and hissing from Judy's wonderful touch brushing against his sensitive red muscle, though once it was completely covered by the condom he stopped. Judy crawled away from her partner while he grabbed the pillows and stacked them together. He laid his head and shoulders on the pillows to get himself in a comfortable position to see what Judy does.

"So, you want me on top?" Judy asked, to which the fox nodded.

"Correct. You should lead first. It'll help you find a good groove if we get really into it later." He explained.

Judy twiddled her fingers for a moment before taking a deep breath and exhaling. She stood up on the mattress and strutted to Nick, spreading her legs straddling over her vulpine partner's hips. She slowly squatted over her partner's cock until her groin made contact with it. She leaned hear hands and arms forward, pressing against her partner's firm chest for balance. The two mammals' faces were really closed to each other, panting lightly from feeling their most intimate organs about to make contact. The bunny pulled back one of her hands and pressed the palm against the shaft of her fox's manhood. She did this to help the muscle slide with more ease into her small slit. She hissed at the feeling of the thick muscle trying to slide past her fleshy walls and slide right through her tunnel, which made Nick feel uncertain if this was a good idea or not, though the feeling of his manhood trying to break through the tight opening was driving him crazy to the point that he wasn't thinking straight.

Soon, Nick's rod managed to push through Judy's slit, sliding inside her warm inner passage. Judy threw her head back and screamed from feeling her partner's cock break through her opening and was now pushing deeper inside her tunnel. The girth of his organ was spreading her inner walls apart, which caused Judy to wail so loud that it echoed throughout the warehouse. Nick himself was growling as he strained to fit his meat inside of Judy's snatch. Judy took a tight grip on her partner's hide as she kept on sliding down to fit more of his shaft inside her.

"J-Judy, i-if this is too much, we can just stop!" Nick groaned and hissed air through his bared teeth. His hands had a tight grip on the bedsheets, so much that his claws were starting to tear through the fabric.

"I can h-handle this!" Judy said in a strained voice as she kept pushing her partner's length inside her fleshy inner walls, "I've been through a lot harder things in life than THIS!" she yelled as she managed to slide Nick's shaft inside her womb. She panted from feeling the throbbing red muscle stuffing her passage, though she was half-relieved that she managed the feat, even if she couldn't manage to take this knot.

"Damn, Judy" Nick groaned as he threw his head back from his partner clenching around his manhood, "y-you did it. Holy shit, that's tight!" he wailed as he tugged back on the bedsheets.

Judy's panting slowed down and she eased her grip on Nick's chest. Her legs felt like they were locked in a squatting position, as if her body was trying to adjust to the feeling of seven inches of pulsing fox cock throbbing inside her, though the bunny knew that was only the first step, or thrust as it may. She slowly started to straighten her legs, which wobbled and trembled from the sudden change of movement, and pulled herself away from her partner's aching rod. Nick thought Judy was going to hop off him because it was too much, but once she pulled out at almost one-third left of his rubber-coated manhood, she slid back down his shaft again. This time her squatting was a little smoother and faster than the first, but it wasn't any less quiet as the two mammals were groaning and moaning even louder than before. Once Judy had repeated this motion a couple of more times she finally got a slow, steady rhythm to ride her boyfriend's manhood in a more comfortable and enjoyable way for both.

Nick felt his partner's inner walls ease on their grip around his shaft, loosening up and making it easier for the both of them to enjoy the ride. He loosened the grip around his bedsheets, which now had some small tears in them thanks to Nick's claws digging into them, and he moved his palms to his girlfriend's luscious hips. He started to buck his hips in a way that he would pull away every time she did, and when she squatted down they would feel each other fully.

The screams and cries had died down in place of much more soothing moaning as the flow of their movements improved and the partners could focus more on each other than any pain that was caused by their clumsy start. Their fur was getting drenched in sweat from their increasing pace. They both had a hard time trying to say any words to each other; they felt as if they had forgotten about anything else that wasn't on the bed right now. The only other sounds that could be heard aside from their moans of bliss was the squeaking of the springs inside the mattress, which became more audible the faster Judy rode on Nick.

"J-Judy!" Nick panted between his grunts and growls, "I can't feel my legs h-holding for much longer!"

"Ahhh, I don't think I'll be lasting for much longer either!" Judy whimpered as she felt her legs tremble even more than before.

Both partners were feeling exhausted as they neared their climaxes, and Nick could see Judy was tiring out as she was even panting out of the side of her mouth, trying to catch as much of her lost breath as she could. The fox noticed this and used his hands to help her ride on his shaft, which was throbbing and ready to burst.

"J-Judy, I- AHH?!" Nick cried out as he lost his grip on Judy thanks to the sweat.

The bunny lost her footing and yelled as she fell on top of the fox's lap and, without warning, managed to drive her partner's knot inside her slit. Judy screamed at the top of her lungs from feeling the round lumps drill inside her already-filled womb, and released her fluids over the aching red shaft. Nick yelled at the air from his knot getting jammed inside his partner's tight passage and fired his thick load into the condom. Once all of their tension was released, Judy's legs gave out; she wobbled and passed out cold on her partner's chest, while Nick drifted off from the ball-draining clenching his cock received.

* * *

The bright sun was beaming through the window of the warehouse. The sunlight hit the faces of the two officers which had been knocked out from their shared orgasm. Judy lightly blinked until her eyes opened. She squinted as the sunlight was shining down on her eyes. She turned her head to the fox she laid on top of the whole night, who slept with his mouth open and his tongue hanging off the side.

"Nick?" Judy asked in a soft voice. She grunted as she pulled herself up and patted her boyfriend's cheeks, "Niiiiick?" she called again.

The fox grunted in his sleep, wiped his eyes with his hands and stretched them out to the sides as he released a loud yawn.

"Haaaaaah. What time is it?" the fox asked as he sat up on the bed, the fur on the back of his head was messed up by the headboard and the sweat from the pillows, "did I miss breakfast again?"

He shook his head and his vision cleared. He saw his bunny partner Judy sitting on his lap, her fur was messy, and she was beaming a smile at him. He jolted slightly when Judy gave him a sudden hug.

"Nick, that was incredible!" she happily chirped as she rubbed her face on her partner's chest, "Oooh. Eww, your fur's all sweaty!"

Nick scoffed as his hands brushed her back, "You're one to talk, Sweaty Buns!"

"That's a new one." The bunny said, cocking a smirk, "but in all seriousness, that was amazing!" she tried to stand up but her legs wobbled and she collapsed on the fox's lap.

"Are you okay?" the worried Nick asked, though Judy just giggled in response.

"I'm fine, Slick. Though" she rubbed her hand right over her exposed, liquid-covered cooch, "your knot really did a serious number on my legs."

Nick flashed a bashful smile and shrugged, "guess I just got caught up in the moment. But don't worry, if your legs don't work anymore I'll just carry you around everywhere."

"That's horrible." Judy said with a fake gasp of shock, "You really want to put your poor noodle arms through that?"

"Are you saying you're fat?" Nick asked, ginning slyly.

"That is not what I said!" she was about to punch his shoulder but she collapsed on his chest once again, "phew. Don't have the energy for that, still."

"And for that, my shoulder is grateful." Nick remarked with that usual smug grin of his. He reached for his groin and pulled the condom away from his retracing manhood, the tied the opening so his semen wouldn't spill out.

"Told ya these babies were sturdy."

"Get that thing away from me, or so help me when I get off this bed-" Judy threatened him, though Nick cut her off by giving her a kiss on her lips. Judy kissed the fox back and the two broke away to gaze at each other's eyes.

"I'm going to enjoy doing that." Nick said under his breath.

"You'll miss my trash talk, you dumb fox." Judy replied in a gentle voice.

"That's true. It's not just you and me without it, but at least now I have a new tool I can use against you."

Judy scoffed and grinned at the fox, "was this your evil plan all along?"

"Who's the dumb one now, honey buns~?" he cooed at his partner.

Judy pulled one of the pillows from under Nick's head, causing him to yelp and his head to fall flat on the sweat-covered pillow.

"Clever bunny." He groaned while turning his head to see the clever bunny in question setting the pillow right next to his and resting her head on it.

"And I reiterate: dumb fox" Judy said.

Nick rolled on his side so the two could stare at each other face-to-face. He pulled the stained bedsheet over their naked bodies and pulled Judy closed to him with his arms, so his head rested right on top of hers, while Judy wrapped her arms around his body.

"If I have you here with me right now, I can't be all that dumb, can I?" he asked in a soothing tone.

"Hmm, you got a point there. Then again, you do make me one happy bunny, Nick Wilde." She tilted her head to give the fox a kiss on his snout, then nuzzled her face on his chest. The two mammals held each other in their arms as they slowly drifted off to sleep once again.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Judy Hopps. Thanks for sticking by my side."

They shared one more kiss and dozed off, enjoying the rest of their morning in each other's comforting, warm embrace.

* * *

 **Addendum:** That was a doozy, wasn't it? I sure hope the extra-long wait was worth it for this one, because I really need a break right after writing all of this. But yes, after ALL OF THAT, there's one more chapter left to go! Don't worry, this one won't take long to produce.

Anyway, thanks for bearing with the extra-long read, and I'll see you all next time for the grand finale of "By Your Side"! ;D


	7. To The End of the World

**DISCLAIMER:** The rights to Zootopia and its characters belong Disney, and any other company associated with the movie. This was not made for profit, simply out of sheer love and joy I have for this wonderful movie and its insanely lovable characters.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTES:** W-w-what?! Two chapters posted within JUST a week of each other? Is this real life? Or is this just fantasy? It IS real life, it's almost too real because… this is it. This is the end. The final chapter. I find it almost hard to believe that this project has been going on for just about 10 months, but it sure doesn't feel like it. This should more than make up for that three-month hiatus a while back, for you guys to finally find out how the story ends, and I'd be more than happy to put this project to rest as well. Not that I didn't enjoy writing this fanfic, quite the opposite in fact! It's been a really great experience, one of my more successful artistic projects to date, and a good showcase for what my writing talent holds. So, I thank each and every single one of you who stuck around for the whole thing down to its completion, I really appreciate all the kind words and good criticism I've received, so let's end this wild ride on a good hop!

… come ooooooooon, ya gotta give me that!

Enough jokes, though! It's time to end "By Your Side"! ;D

* * *

 _[ **FINAL CHAPTER: TO THE END OF THE WORLD** ]_

One week after their first date the new couple went out on their second meeting. Despite the rollercoaster of a ride for a date they had, it was one they were not going to forget, though there was some unfinished business still left to settle: one overdue dinner for the winner.

This time around the two partners didn't go for anything fancy, Nick took Judy to a small, cozy pizzeria that rested right on the outskirts of the Rainforest District. While it wasn't part of the deal since it was meant to be Judy's choosing, she didn't complain due to the place having a pretty comfortable atmosphere, and the pizza was damn good, so that sure helped.

"Told ya, nobody beats Pierro's." the red fox remarked proudly while taking a slice of his mushroom-and-garlic pizza and taking a bite out of it.

"You got me there, Slick." Judy said, then swallowed the bite she had taken out of her carrot-and-pineapple slice, "you suuuuure you don't want to try mine?"

"You get that sacrilege away from my snout." He scoffed.

"You still ain't getting off the hook that easily, fox. I believe _I_ was supposed to choose the place, was the deal." She smirked at her boyfriend.

"Yeah, I know. I'm still saving up an arm and a leg for that." He replied in a flat tone.

"I'm not asking for anything _too_ fancy, but if you want to be stingyyyyyy~" she fluttered her eyelashes while Nick rolled his eyes and gave the bunny a playful smile.

"We're still not done with our little game, Little Miss Hopsy."

"Not done? I beat you at three games in a row! Do you want me to cream you at the entire arcade?" she slammed her hands on the table.

"Our game was merely interrupted by the concert, ergo you haven't earned your dinner privileges." The fox said, leaning his face closer to hers.

"So, when do I earn them? After you complete your little sentence for attacking an innocent civilian?" she leaned her smug face to the fox's.

"He wasn't innocent, first of all. Second of all, it's not a sentence, it's just a mere 48 hours of community service. Aaaaand, third of all, I believe it was you, and I quote, who said I looked good in orange." Nick leaned his face close enough that his nose was pressing against hers.

"Debatable, debatable, and I don't see the lie in that last one." The bunny cooed in an impish tone.

The partners gazed at each other through half-lidded eyes, as they were at close enough to each other for a good smooch. However, before the kiss could happen, Nick's eyes popped wide open as he saw something through the window that caught his attention.

"Uh, hey, Judes?" he asked.

"Hmm, what is it, Nicky-poo?" Judy asked in a soft voice.

"Weren't you trying to solve a case involving Chief Buffalo Butt, or something?"

Judy opened both of her eyes and gave Nick a confused look until she realized what he was talking about, "Wha- oh that! Yeah, but why did you-?"

"I just saw him walking to the restaurant across the street, with Clawhauser." He pointed to the window, right over the bunny's shoulder as she turned back to look.

"I think I know why Chief Angry Brow has been so nice to us, lately!" the fox exclaimed as he jumped off his seat and dashed to the door, leaving Judy with her thoughts completely scrambled until she jumped off her chair and chased after him.

Inside the restaurant across the street, the burly African buffalo was helping his cheetah co-worker sit down on his chair, as Clawhauser couldn't help but not hide his glee. Suddenly, Bogo's ears perked up as he heard a door slam right open and a certain smug voice declare, "I KNEW IT!"

"YOU ARE DATING!" Nick shouted, pointing his finger at his boss and dispatcher, while Judy was burying her face into her hands, hoping to God Nick didn't get the both of them in serious trouble.

"Wh-WILDE!" the baffled Bogo shouted in return, "WHAT IN THE GOOD NAME OF THIS GODFORSAKEN PLANET ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

Nick lowered his hand and slipped it right into the pocket of his pants, "Okay, that crosses out the aliens."

"ALIENS?!" he stormed over to the fox, whom he completely towered over as he glared at his most insufferable subordinate, "WHERE DO YOU GET THESE BIZARRE IDEAS FROM?!"

"In my defense, Chief, uhhh" he tapped his chin with his finger, "I was just trying to help Officer Hopps here trying to solve a case for her involving your weird beha- OOOW!" he yelped from feeling a foot stomping on his tail.

"Oops, my foot slipped." Judy said in a fake sincere tone before shooting a quick glare at her partner. Though she lost the glare when she saw the buffalo glowering at her.

"You better have a good explanation for this, Hopps." Bogo said, not even blinking out of his scowl (how does he do that?!)

Judy really wanted to chew Nick out for throwing her under the bus like that, but she swallowed her tongue and began to explain, "well, Nick isn't wrong, sir. See, I was just feeling perplexed at how much- and please, don't take this the wrong way" Judy quickly added, which made Bogo raise an eyebrow, "kinder you were to us at the station. So much so that you even gave us a day off- which we appreciate, just not completely understand."

While Bogo became hesitant to respond why, a joyful giggle turned everyone's attention to Clawhauser.

"Oh no, it's nothing that complicated, silly!" the pudgy cheetah said with his usual beaming smile, "see, what's actually happening here is that Bogo is spoiling me to a nice dinner after I managed to find the both of us these super-special, full access, front row, VIP backstage access, to Gazelle's release concert for her first world tour for her new album- By Your Side! This concert _juuuust_ so happens to be happening on the evening on the Chief's birthday, and they were not easy to get a hold of, let me tell you."

Both of the smaller mammals were stunned by the response, so much that all they could do is blink and turn their head in perfect synch to their large boss.

"Yeah, that's about it, really." Bogo said with a simple shrug and a more relaxed expression.

"That was totally my second guess." Nick murmured under his breath, which earned him a punch from Judy on his shoulder.

Judy cleared her throat and started to talk in a more serious and clear tone, "On behalf of the both of us- though it's really mostly me- I apologize for intruding in your personal business, Chief."

"It's alright, Hopps. No harm done." Bogo said with a genuine sweet smile on his face.

"I beg to differ." Nick grumbled as he rubbed his aching shoulder.

"I guess you could call it a date of sorts." Clawhauser said, winking at the smaller mammals, while Bogo awkwardly cleared his throat and tugged on his collar.

"Come on, Benjamin, don't give them any ideas." The big buffalo muttered.

Nick's ear perked up and he raised his hand in the air, "Oh, Chief! Listen, I'm sorry for just barging in, but I know how to make up for it!"

Though Bogo shook his head and waved his hand, "Wilde, it's a nice gesture, but whatever you have in mind we'd rather pas-"

"Wait, were you going to suggest a double date?" Benjamin asked, gasping loudly.

"You guys are not _technically_ dating." The red fox said with an "innocent" shrug, "but if you want to call it that, then yes- a double date!"

"Oh my gosh! A double date between the four of us sounds like a great night of fun!" the chubby cheetah exclaimed, clapping his hands

"Right?! We could have dinner together, go out for a movie, enjoy some of the best ice cream out in Zootpia-"

"Wait, you mean from Tundra Town?"

"you know the place I'm talking about?"

"Oh, is it-"

"THE MEGA MUSKRAT-ROBBINS IN OLD TOWN?!" both Nick and Clawhauser asked excitedly, at the same time, "YOU _DO_ KNOW THE ONE!"

Both Judy and Bogo exchanged estranged looks with each other as their respective dates were blathering on and about this double date.

"For the record, this is all your fault, Hopps." Bogo uttered to Judy, who simply nodded in agreement.

"Duly noted, Chief. Duly noted." She replied without even looking at the buffalo.

* * *

After the date ended, Nick and Judy arrived right at the door of Judy's apartment. Judy was shaking her head while holding her temples with her fingertips, while her partner happily whooped and leaned on the frame of her door.

"Nick Wilde, you are the most insane mammal I've ever met in my life." The bunny exhaled while turning back to stare at her partner, who was still lit up with joy.

"Call me what you want, Carrots, but you can't tell me you didn't have a good time back there." He replied in his usual smug tone, "and don't even deny it, I heard you laughing like a complete fool, just like the rest of us."

"Okay, I enjoyed myself a biiiit." Judy lied, which caused Nick to simply raise an eyebrow to her in question.

"Alright, alright- second date was a total blast! There, I said it! Happy?"

"Oh no." Nick said with a satisfied grin on his face, "You haven't known true happiness until you've seen Miss Judy Hopps falling flat on her tail Prance Prance Revolution."

"Okay, okay, so I can't dance all that well." Judy admitted as she leaned back against the other beam of the doorframe, "what do you expect when you have big floppers like these?" she asked, pointing at her own feet.

"I don't believe it." Nick shook his head with an amused grin on his face, "Miss I Can Try Everything can't dance to save her life."

"Next time I take you on at the arcade, you are soooo going down."

Judy returned her partner's smug smile and turned her head to face him, "So you want to go double or nothing, ya dumb fox?"

"It's a deal. And I won't be holding back next time, THEN we'll see who's the dumb one." He bent over to have his face on the same height level as Judy's.

"You're on, Slick! But you better be ready to have your wallet broken."

"Though that won't be much of a problem if I break something of YOURS!" he brought his arms around Judy's back and lifted her off the ground, causing her to yelp in surprise as she fell right onto her partner's arms.

"Told ya I could carry you." The red fox said, winking at his girlfriend.

"Oooh, bad predator!" Judy cooed while rubbing the fox's snout with one hand and turning the doorknob with the other, opening the door for the both of them, "put me down right now~"

"Oh, I am. On your bed, my little prey~" Nick replied with a low growl, which made the fur on the back of Judy's neck stand on end.

"Somebody's hungryyyyyy." Judy said in a teasing tone.

"You want to try me, baby?" Nick asked in a soft voice while pressing his nose against Judy's.

"I want to try everything with you, handsome." The bunny replied, planting a soft kiss on the fox's lips.

"Let's end the night with a real bang." Nick winked at Judy again as he stepped inside the apartment, holding his partner in his arms, and closing the door behind them.

"You're never letting those cheesy jokes go, are you?" Judy asked from behind the other side of the door.

"Nope! So ya better get used to them, Fluffbutt!"

"I love you, Nick."

"I love you too, Judy."

The full moon bathed the night sky with its shining gleam, and stars dotted the atmosphere as they shone down on the prosperous city of Zootopia, as well as the finest of Zootopia's finest as they had each other to love, cherish, hold, look out for each other, and be by each other's side for the rest of their lives.

 **THE END**

* * *

 **Final addendum:** Thank you all, once again, for reading this. I hope you had as much joy reading this, as I had writing it. This may be the end of "By Your Side" in writing, but the project isn't finished for good- I'll be doing more art relating to it on my DeviantART page, if anyone is interested in that. Look up "BluMoonToons", and you'll find the cover, as well as other Zootopia-related, and other fanart there. But aside from that, that's it. It's finally over, and I can't stress enough what a pleasure it was to work on this ambitious project. It may have been "yet another Nick and Judy" go on a first date, idea, but I hope mine was a little more unique and special. I certainly won't forget about it. ;D

I'll catch you all on the next fanfic! Later!


End file.
